tw: violence,,, please skip forward if you need!

They parked a couple of blocks down the road from the building, getting out of the car. Jiah couldn't hold herself from running to the other pair's car, flinging Jungkook's door open and reaching into it to give him a hug.

He seemed surprised at the gesture, stepping out quickly to hug her back, "You okay, Shadow?"

"It's Jiah to you," she scrunched her nose at him as she craned her neck upward to look at him, "We got this, right? It's all going to be over soon, right?"

"Yes," he grinned, placing a small kiss to her forehead, "It'll all be over soon."

"Please don't get into much trouble, Jungkook. Look after yourself in there, okay? I won't be there to watch over you, so you better look after yourself as if you were looking after me, got it?"

He chuckled, letting go of her, "Of course."

"You pinky promise?" she asked, sticking up her smallest finger at him, to which he stopped laughing, expression turning solemn.

A pinky promise was the gravest of all settlements.

"Yes. But you have to promise the same. I won't be there to cover your clumsy ass, so you need to look after yourself too, okay? Make sure you don't jump into danger unless you have to, and promise me you'll be back out here alive."

"Of course, asshat," she wiggled her eyebrows as she used the nicknames she missed calling him, "I promise."

And with that, they intertwined their pinkies earnestly.

Taehyung wanted to follow the sentiment, so he, too, walked over to his best friend's side of the car, knocking on the window for him to step out.

Jimin rolled his eyes as he did precisely that, "You better not be wanting to kiss me on the forehead too, loser."

"Shut up," Taehyung snapped, opening his arms for him to walk into, "Shut up and give me a hug."

"Whatever," he grinned as he did as he was asked, "You're so embarrassing."

"I said shut up, Jimin," he snapped again, burying his head into his best friend's shoulder, "You better not fucking fuck up in there you fucking asshole, okay?"

"Woah, woah, woah there, language!"

"This isn't the time to talk about language," he continued to scold him, "Jimin, you must look after yourself in there, okay? Your body is mine; you cannot go anywhere without me following you right behind, alright? And that includes the afterlife - you hear me?"

"Yes, yes, idiot, I hear you."

"Promise me you won't make any stupid decisions because of your stupid heart."

"I can't," Jimin teased, "You know I can't do that."

"Yeah," Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows, "You can at least lie to me, you asshole."

"Okay, Taehyung. I promise. You better not get yourself into harm's way, either okay? That last scare was enough - you tested my heart, and it's beating, got it? You don't need to do that again. You get in there, distract and you come out. That's it, alright?"

"Of course," blinking, he felt his smile falter, and he hoped Jimin hadn't seen it.

Oh, but he did.

And he wished he'd taken it as a cue to turn around and leave. He didn't, though.

"I love you, soulmate," Taehyung closed his eyes as he rested his forehead against Jimin's.

They'd never hugged this long before, never declared their affection for each other this way before. But they could both see the necessity in doing it now.

"I love you more, soulmate."

"We know that's not possible," he had the sudden urge to place a small kiss atop Jimin's head. It was strange, really, he'd never had that urge before.

He was just overwhelmed with so much love, care and concern for his friend that it was all he could think of doing to force it out of his system.

But he refrained from doing so.

And that was the first mistake of many to come.

--

"Don't think I didn't see him kissing your forehead," Taehyung hissed as they walked to the warehouse alone. Their hearts thumping so hard in their chests that it surged through their veins and hammered around their ears.

Trying to talk about other things was all they could think of doing to calm themselves down.

"Oh shush," she started to smile, but it didn't form entirely as she let out a quiet gasp feeling him suddenly wrapped an arm about her then, pulling her flush into her chest. "What are you doing!"

"I just... wanted to kiss you before we go in," he said innocently, eyes glistening as he stared back at her.

At that moment, she was transported yet again. Back to when they first met, back to when she felt herself falling into the deep abysses of those diamond eyes.

He looked back at Jiah, and it was as if their eyes locking caused electric currents to fly through the room. Not because it was heated, but because if there was an earthquake, they wouldn't know, their eyes wouldn't - couldn't - leave the other's.

And Jiah felt it again. His very being setting a match to her soul.

And when she decided she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

"What are we doing?"

Leaning down, he craned his neck so that the most faint breath he took tickled her ear, he replied, "Dancing."

With that, he led her, taking small steps around the living room, circling here and there, the music leading them up and down the space, they shared little smiles and awkward laughs when Jiah would accidentally step on his feet. It was such an unanticipated gesture, but for some reason, she found it so perfect.

He shook his head, smiling, before taking his hand off her waist, holding her by the chin as he leaned down. He lightly pressed his lips on hers at first, and when she pulled her hands from his, wrapping them around his neck, he deepened the kiss, hugging his arms around her waist now.

"I hope," he whispered in between breaths, "I hope this cheered you up, at least a little bit."

"Oh, you have no idea."

The moment she realised he accepted her for all that she is, embracing her flaws and insecurities instead of shunning them as she did.

"I'm sick of my broken glass, Tae-" she hiccuped, the sobs growing a little stronger.

"Just because your glass is broken doesn't mean you can't love," he whispered, pushing himself up from his spot on the bed to kiss her cheeks, tasting the salt.

He saw her begging him;

Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.

And so he did just that, he showed her that she was capable of loving, she was capable of feeling just as beautiful as she made him feel.

His soft kisses on her cheeks followed to her ear. Looking back at her skin, he thought of a shooting star, flying through the midnight sky, leaving a trail of glowing light at its tail.

"I love you," he breathed into her ear, the feeling tickling her that she gasped, twitching into herself.

But to her they weren't just words. Because to her, he was breathing life into her.

He was finding beauty in the shards of glass holed up in the pit of her rib cage.

"I love you," she told him, tip-toeing to press her lips to his.

A second later, her tongue tasted salt, and she realised tears she'd been holding back were starting to spill between lidded eyes.

"I love you too," he parted his lips, tasting her one last time before tearing from her. Sending her a sad smile, he asked, "Should we do this?"

The tear-stained cheeks under his eyes had her confused - were those her tears or his?

She didn't ask, however.

And she would regret it for a lifetime.

"Let's do this."

--

Arriving at the entrance, Taehyung was faced with three men patrolling the empty space, just as they had expected.

Upon hearing his arrival, they froze, holding up their guns at him, causing him to raise his arms.

"You don't want to do that, guys, you really don't."

One of the men - who seemed to be their leader - stepped forward, "Who are you?"

"I'm no one special," Taehyung drawled, "I own this company, you may have heard of it? It's called World Enterprises. Anyway, I've recently found out that your gang is actually using us for a shit ton of stuff you really shouldn't be, and, well, I'm here to talk to your Boss about it."

They just stared at him.

"I reckon you should act quickly," he held up his hand where a simple bracelet hung on his wrist, "The police are tracking me, and if I don't report back to them soon, they'll come storming into this place," he lied, "you don't want to take your chances."

They still said nothing.

"Alright, alright," he pointed to a table nearby at which a mobile phone lay, "If you still don't trust me, google who the president of World Enterprises is, and check for yourselves."

After exchanging glances, one of them hobbled over to the table, still facing Taehyung with his gun levelled at him, as he picked it up and joined the other two again.

Quickly unlocking and searching him up, his eyes widened as he showed their leader.

He let out a low grunt before lowering his gun, "Follow me."

Taehyung bit at the inside of his mouth, putting his hands in his pockets to hide the fact that they were shaking.

Quickly turning over his shoulder, he watched as Jiah closely followed, every now and then hiding behind some cart or box before scurrying forward.

And soon after, as he was further away, he threw another look over his shoulder to see three faint figures running in and heading the other way.

Taehyung hoped this would all be over soon.

--

Jimin, Jungkook and the Director all jogged through the building, splitting in three different directions as they headed for the three possible locations of the captives.

Jimin was the first to hit a dead wall. Running back, he managed to join Jungkook, and they continued on his path to another potential holding space. Through their earpieces, they heard the Director tell them that his route, as well, was a dead end.

So it had to be where Jungkook and Jimin were.

Running through open door after open door, they finally ended up at the end of the trail where a locked door stood.

Jungkook and Jimin exchanged glances as if to say; I think we found it.

The former would have been lying if he said he didn't feel tears pricking the back of his eyes at the sight of the man he was utterly in love with in front of him then. Eyes full of hope, excitement, screaming 'we're going to save them!'.

Melted autumn leaves danced through his eyes, and he could see a lifetime's worth of seasons circling through them. The way his gaze held seemed to hold the sun despite standing in the darkness they were in didn't phase him.

Jungkook already knew the boy was out of this world.

I think I love you, Jimin.

It was at the tip of his tongue, but he refrained from saying it.

Another mistake.

Jimin brought out the mini fire torch, and Jungkook brought out a few tools as he did so. They got to work at the lock, knowing exactly how to open the door. The Director really had done his homework, teaching them all they needed to know.

The door swung open, earning a gasp from Jimin and a sigh from Jungkook as they were faced with dozens of pairs of eyes staring back at them.

--

Taehyung was now standing opposite some large door that one of the men had disappeared behind which opened shortly after, letting him in.

He successfully managed to drop a pack of gum in the crack, meaning it was left slightly ajar for Jiah to peer through it as he was inside.

Puffing out a deep breath, he met the gaze of the man sitting in a large chair at the centre of the room.

"Oh, hello," the Boss took in all his features, "It's so nice to finally meet you! How have you been? I haven't checked in on you in a while, I've been a bit busy, you see."

"Nice to know you've been keeping tabs on me. Well seeing as you haven't checked up in a while, you probably don't know what I know about you, and your gang."

"Gang?" he asked cooly, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Taehyung crossed his arms over his chest, cunningly, "I'm here because I wanted to talk to you about a deal we could possibly make."

"A deal?"

Taehyung nodded.

"I don't know why you'd want to make a deal with me, a mere businessman who only deals with fruit and vegetables."

"I'm not sure what your men have told you," he tried to match his calm tone, "But I can get the police here in a matter of minutes. You don't want to push it."

He scanned his expression, calculating.

"Go on."

"I'll let you continue to do what you're doing if you cut me half of the profits you make."

"But that's illegal activity," he rubbed his chin with his thumb, "You expect me to believe you're going to engage in illegal activity? Yeah, right, like the president of the most powerful company in Korea's going to do that."

"All companies are a little corrupt," he shrugged, "I thought I might join the party, you know?"

"Oh, is that right?"

And it was then Taehyung felt his heart start to drop.

For another member of the gang walked up to the Boss, whispering something in his ear to which he calmly nodded, eyes zeroing in on the door that Taehyung just walked through. Like a lioness hunting her prey.

Dammit, Jiah.

Wordlessly, he pointed at it, asking a member to go open.

Taehyung bit his lip, praying that Jiah had hid, that she'd gone as far as possible.

But he was wrong.

The door opened to reveal her figure, standing strong and tall, cracking her neck.

"Hey, boss."

Taehyung now allowed himself to turn around, throwing a glare at his lover. He was mad.

"Jiah! What a pleasant surprise, really," he didn't sound like he meant it, "What are you doing here?"

She never let her eyes meet Taehyung's. Instead, she continued to walk, passing him and facing the Boss directly.

"Just missed you all. Haven't heard from you in a while," she pointed her thumb over her shoulder, "I didn't expect him to be here."

"Oh, you didn't?"

"Yeah," she said dejectedly, "Sorry about that, boss."

"You're sorry?"

She nodded.

His eyes travelled from Jiah's, and to Taehyung. Tilting his head, he continued.

"Why do you not look surprised that your secretary is speaking to me this way, huh?"

Jiah finally allowed herself to turn to look at him. And she couldn't stop blinking as she saw the way his eyes were boring into her. He had dropped the whole act. He didn't look like he cared anymore.

When someone looks at you like that, eyes holding total anger, it hurts; but when that someone holds your heart in their hand, it kills. Even if you deserve it, the loss is a beautiful pair of concrete boots and your soul, a cold river.

Her breath caught in her throat, and she promised herself to refrain from speaking.

"Let me tell you why; because while I sent you there on a mission," his attention was back on Jiah, "You went off and fell in love."

She snapped her head back to him, narrowing her gaze, "Shut up."

"And now, there's only one thing we can do about it."

Her heart was racing, and she observed, terrified, as he pointed at two of the gang members, and then at Taehyung.

"He knows too much."

Spinning around, she watched in horror as they stomped toward him, grabbing him at both sides.

"No!" she shrieked, running as fast as she could, bearing hands into fists as she nearly reached them.

But before she got there, a pair of arms wrapped around her torso, pulling her back.

"Let go of me!" she struggled against their hold, lifting her gaze to catch his face.

He looked defeated.

He looked like he had seen this coming.

He looked like he'd already given up a long time ago.

"Taehyung!" she screeched as he disappeared behind the large doors, "Taehyung!"

Her voice could hardly choke out her screams, tears not too shyly streaming down her face.

"Asshole, you better not hurt a hair on his head," she seethed.

"Turn," he answered simply, and the man who'd been holding onto her did so.

She was still attempting with all her might to pull herself from him.

Not working out.

"Now Jiah, I'm going to finally give you your mission."

"What?" she spat incredulously.

"I told you I wanted you to kill, didn't I?" he asked but didn't wait for an answer, "Well, it wasn't Scar I wanted dead. Although that would have been nice. I want you to kill that stupid president. I need you to kill him."

"Never!" she roared, "In your fucking dreams, asshole!"

He smiled, fishing for something in his shirt pocket, "I mean, it's your choice, but you see this kid?"

He turned the paper to her, and she caught a glimpse of the two figures sitting on the floor. Holding a basketball and laughing to their heart's content.

Ji Young.

Bringing out his phone, he showed Jiah the screen. And there it was, her apartment door. Her apartment in which Ji Young was most likely sitting at the couch watching TV at this time.

"As I said, it's your choice. But remember, you don't listen to us and your brother gets it."

Taking a deep breath, she tried her best to maintain her composure.

"I don't care."

Silence.

"Kill Ji Young, I don't care about him."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. This stupid gang has made me damn near inhumane. I couldn't give a fuck about that brat."

"Hmm," the Boss nodded, "You seemed to care a whole lot the last time we kidnapped him. So I'm having trouble believing you."

"From the bottom of my cold, dead heart, screw you," she spat, trying one last time to free herself.

To which, the man in front of her hushed her, "Sh, sh, we'll let you go," taking a small pistol from his back pocket, he held it out in front of him, "Just as long as you get your job done."

"Fuck you," she tried again, but he merely shrugged.

"It's up to you. I'll make sure to ask our friend down at your apartment to give Ji Young your best wishes."

Jiah loosened her body, eyes falling from her Boss's face to the gun.

She had to make a choice, but she didn't want to.

GUYS LOOK AT THIS AMAZING DRAWING THIS QUEEN jeonathon MADE

I'M NEVER GETTING OVER HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS (also pls go send her some love she is an ANGEL)

UGH SO SO SO SO CUTE

THE TALENT JUST POPPED OUT

So the next chapter is the last one! It's so sad saying goodbye to our babies :(

After chapter 54, there will be an epilogue and then some special chapters

I love you all so much! Please stay inside as much as possible, and look after your health! Don't forget to eat your meals and do some little home exercises or go for walks around your neighbourhood! Also, make sure you're video calling/calling your friends and keeping in touch! Even if you're an introvert like me, it's so important to keep talking to your friends, so please do! For me :)

Have a great rest of your day beautifuls xx