Another hit came.

The man couldn't scream. There was a gag in his mouth, any noise he made muffled and too quiet for the outside world to hear. Jimin planned it that way, kneeling and staring at the bloodied man. It was like peeking into a mirror. Crimson liquid coated Jimin's clothes, his face the same way while the pipe he was holding was dented and scratched.

Torture was never Jimin's thing. It also didn't help that he was doing this by Ivan's limp body. That was so Ariel didn't have to see. She insisted on coming with, but when he dragged the body inside Ivan's tomb, she backed off and agreed to wait outside. Keeping her outside after an attack was probably the dumbest idea Jimin ever had. However, it was either that, or let her see torture.

Sure, he could have put her in the corner or blindfolded her. For some reason, that option made him tremble. The kitchen was dark enough. Ariel didn't seem the type to like darkness, so he decided to spare her from that for as long as he could. He spared her from both the darkness and the torture.

His watch was covered in blood, but even he saw it was the next morning. It was one in the morning. AKA: Ariel's birthday. The thought that she was spending it in dread made Jimin's stomach boil. So, he pressed the tip of the pipe against the knife wound Ariel gave him.

The man was livid. He thrashed in the chair until Jimin wondered if he'd knock it over. By the time he was finished, he took out the gag. "Who sent you and how did you find us? I'll take you to your little friend if you tell me. Do you really want to keep doing this? It's been hours now."

No words came from the man. So, Jimin dropped the pipe and dug through the cabinets. He found a spoon, taking it out and trotting back over to the man. Although he could speak, his face was battered with bruises and blood. His nose, like Ariel's, was broken. Yeah, Jimin had to patch up Ariel's broken nose while doing her makeup.

The cops did end up coming, and they bought the firework excuse. They asked Ariel if she was okay, and she did a stellar job with her acting. No one at this pub was okay, but at least she was able to persuade law enforcement.

"Fuck you," the man said, but Jimin ignored it.

"Here's what's going to happen. You see my friend?" He pointed to Ivan, and the man kept his jaw stiff. "I'm done playing games. Tell me what I want to know, or you end up like him. I'll take your eyes out using..." He tapped the back of the spoon against his cheek. "This. Sound like a deal?"

There was still no answer. "Listen buddy, that little girl you decided to hurt? Big mistake," Jimin said.

"She your daughter?"

Although those were the first words he said without hostile intent, Jimin didn't focus on that. Years of training couldn't prepare him for the wave of ache that went through his body. Regardless, he didn't give the man any satisfaction.

"No. But it's her birthday. We've been at this shit so long that it's her birthday now, and I'm missing it to instead torture your dumbass since you won't give me information. I'll give you two options bud, either tell me now, or I start taking off other things. Was losing your index fingers not enough? Do you really need more?"

This time, he paused. Any snarly remark was silenced in seconds. Finally, he cleared his throat. "Every assassin and their mom's are after you. Your bounty's up to 20 million," he said, Jimin chuckling.

"Damn, I always knew I was worth a lot, nice of Madam to boost my ego."

"Each."

That made Jimin halt. "Each? As in 20 million for each one of us? 160 million total?" The man nodded, and Jimin almost fell back on his ass. "Is the kid in the bounty at all?"

"1 million. They aren't sure if she's worth anything, but they're willing to find out. The High Council is calling the best assassins they know to do it. My bud and I aren't in that group, but we once went to that old man for a hideout when we disobeyed a kill order. Stayed there until we found out the ones who signed the order were executed. So we checked with him, offered him money, and he refused. Said he never heard of you, but one look at one of his schedules said there was a meeting with Ivan Belmour a couple months prior."

"So you went to this old man because he met with Ivan before? Sounds like a long shot, don't you think?" Jimin asked.

"It was the best shot any assassin had. We figured he was lying, and we didn't have much to lose if we tortured him. He gave up your location, we came here to collect the bounty."

"Did you kill him?" The next nod had Jimin hanging his head in mourning. That poor old man. Sure, he wasn't a saint. No one in the mafia was. But he deserved better than to go out like that. "Did you tell anyone else our location?"

"Why would we? 160 million all to ourselves? We didn't want to risk other assassins beating us here and taking you for themselves, or killing us in the process. That money is life-changing. Even one percent of that money is life-changing. We could get out of the mafia with that type of cash."

"I don't care," Jimin said, standing. "Thank you for your cooperation. I told you I'd let you see your friend, and I'm a man of my word." And with that, Jimin stabbed him between the eyes with the pocket knife Ariel had. He was keeping it in his pocket for the eventual kill. Now, there could finally be peace and quiet to celebrate Ariel's day.

After gathering both the bodies in the corner of the kitchen, washing out the blood, cleaning his skin, and making the knife shiny again, Jimin took off his clothes. There was a change of clothes he brought down in advance, and he switched into them. They were much looser, a baggy and dark long-sleeved shirt with sweatpants to match. His sneakers were soaked with blood, so he took them and his socks off, leaving the kitchen to check on Ariel.

Right outside, her back against the bar top, was Ariel. Her eyes were shut, her breathing even. Jimin went over and knelt, wrapping his arms around her body just in time for her to groan and stir. He halted, shifting back as she woke up. Their eyes locked a beat later, Jimin giving her a smile.

"Morning Little Mermaid," he said, but she only knit her brows.

"Little Mermaid...?"

"Yeah, you know, the redhead who's a mermaid. Her name's Ariel. It's a movie." She tilted her head, him sighing. "Alright, we're gonna watch a bunch of movies together sometime, but for now, you're coming back to my room."

"Your room?"

"We just had a huge break in and there's no way in hell I can stay up all day and all night to keep watch, so you're sleeping in my room, kiddo. We're doing it together now," he said, backing up and standing. He offered her his hand, and she took it, hopping to her feet. Ariel wobbled, still shaking off the slumber.

"That's kind of dumb."

"Yeah well so is Asa, but no one talks about that. Come on, back to my room we go." She obeyed, him guiding her up to his room and leading her inside. It was in the same state he left it in when she screamed. "You take the bed. When I sleep, wake me if you need anything. Don't wander the halls without me. I'm gonna do one more sweep of the house, only come out if it's an emergency."

"Got it. I'm probably not going to sleep anytime soon. I kind of took a nap all day because of how long you were with that guy. How many hours was that?"

"Too many. How'd you sleep with all that noise?"

"Used to it," was her only answer as she slipped under the covers, cuddling up with his pillow and staring at the wall opposite to them. Jimin leaned against the door and watched her. It was her birthday. A whole year older. Although deep down, Jimin was sure Ariel still felt like she was 10 or 11.

With that, he departed and swept the house with his pistol. It was clear, no signs of anyone other than those two assassins. Jimin was worried about the others up in Canada, but he knew he had to focus on his task. Protecting Ivan and Ariel.

Ivan was exactly where Jimin left him. In the kitchen, on a counter. The only sign of life was that his chest was rising and falling. Jimin wasn't sure if that was comforting or not, but he decided to brush it off.

Blood was in the air despite his cleaning. He sprayed what little air freshener they had before going through the cupboards. There he found what food they had. Improvising was something the Seong family was known for. So, that was what he did. Although he knew by doing this, he'd open himself up to vulnerability. Jimin sighed.

This was going to be a long night.

~~~

Ariel held his hand tightly as he guided her down to the bar, his heart racing. "Don't worry kid, the bogeymen are gone," he said, her snorting.

"I never believed in the bogeyman anyway." They entered the bar area, all the lights off except for a natural light. A light that looked like a candle. "Is that a candle?"

"Match. We're not that fancy. C'mere before it burns out."

"Huh?"

"C'mere."

She hesitated, then followed him to the bar top. He helped her sit, taking the plate and sliding it toward her. There was a cupcake on the plate, a match poking out of it to act as a makeshift candle. They had regular candles, but no birthday candles. Improvising. Jimin liked to think he did a good job with that.

"What's this?" she asked, Jimin pretending he was offended.

"What? Kid, do you know the time?" At her confusion, he showed her his watch. "Your birthday!"There was silence for a long beat. Jimin felt his heart jump, his adrenaline spiking. Did he mess up? Was this not how birthdays were celebrated? Shit, was he doing Aria's birthdays wrong that whole time?

"You baked me a cupcake?" she asked, her lips spreading up into a wide grin.

Jimin dipped his head down a bit, scratching at the counter. "Well..."

"Please tell me it's poisoned. That'd be an awesome way to die."

They stared at each other, then, they burst out laughing. Ariel was giggling, and that made her sound younger than she actually was. It hurt Jimin's soul to hear that, but at the same time, he was glad he was able to bring that noise out. Ariel deserved more laughs and smiles just like this. He wished he was good enough to provide that for her.

When they dialed down, Jimin leaned forward on the counter. "Come on kid, match is about to burn out. Make a wish." She leaned forward, shutting her eyes. As soon as she gave herself a nod, she blew out the match. Jimin jumped, holding a hand over his heart. "Oh... oh, I'm still here, the wish didn't come true."

She reached across the counter and whacked his shoulder. "Dumbass, that's not what I wished for."

He gave her a pretend glare. "Language."

"Okay, dad," she said with a snicker. Just like that, Jimin's face fell. When she realized he wasn't laughing with her, she peeked at him. Her face fell too. "Wait, were you a...?"

"What'd you wish for?" he asked, clearing his throat as if that would change the topic. The topic didn't change fast enough. His mind still showed the scars that had never left. It didn't matter though. Not because Jimin was healing, rather because Ariel pulled him out of his thoughts.

"I wished for you to be happy." Once again, he froze. "If anyone deserves it, it's you Jimin. And after hearing that... I think you deserve it even more." At his quiet, she tugged on his sleeve. "Do you have my knife?" He gave it to her, and she took out the match and used the knife to cut the cupcake in half. It had vanilla batter since there weren't supplies to make any other flavor. The icing was made out of whipped cream despite how Jimin preferred buttercream, but again, no supplies. "You're the one who said together, old man. What do you say?"

He took it with a smile tugging on his lips, doing a toast with her before taking a bite. It wasn't the best, but it was a sweet treat that hit the spot. Jimin was impressed with his baking skills. He hadn't baked anything since Aria. Strange. Thinking about her didn't bring nightmares this time.

"The poison sinking in yet?" he asked as she swallowed her bite.

"I wish. It's actually really good, thank you, old man."

They ate together, the cupcake a small size so it didn't take long. Jimin finished before her, so he took a rag and ran it under water from the bar sink. She shoved the last part of her treat in her mouth, him chuckling and wiping the counter, taking the plate after he finished.

He ruffled her hair. "Happy birthday, baby. I'm gonna put this back and clean it off." As he went to leave, she grabbed his sleeve and held him in place. At that, he planted his feet and gave Ariel a stare. "What is it?"

"You know you don't have to hide yourself from me, right?" she said, and he had to do a cartwheel to process her words. He bit his lower lip, about to reply when he heard a loud bang from the kitchen.

With a jump, he rounded the bar top and got in front of Ariel, pulling out his pistol and aiming it at the doors. "Stay here," he whispered, bending his knees and creeping forward. His footsteps were soundless, him continuing his trek until he heard a shout. Or more like a cry.

The doors swung open, Jimin lowering his weapon and dropping his jaw. Ivan was there, on the floor, crawling since the bandages covered his damaged eyes. There was no blood, only Ivan and the smell of sweat that clung to the air.

"Why me?" Ivan asked in a sob, Jimin holstering his pistol and rushing over to his fallen friend. He dove to his knees and brought Ivan to his lap. "What did I do to deserve this? Why me?"

"I'm so sorry, buddy. I wish it was me instead," Jimin said, brushing Ivan's locks back. It was difficult since they were clamped onto his forehead, but he managed to pry them off and observe the bandages.

"What's going on?" Ivan gripped onto Jimin's shoulder, his head darting around. "Why can't I see?"

"You can't see anything?" Jimin asked, his heart dropping and his tongue going dry. Ivan turned his face in Jimin's direction as if looking at him, but that was far from the truth. The bandages hid Ivan's eyes, yet Jimin knew what he was about to say anyway.

"Nothing at all. Jimin, why can't I see?"