⊰ＴＨＩＲＴＹ ＳＥＶＥＮ ⊱

SACRIFICE

How had I not seen it before? How had he managed to trick me into believing that she was dead? And why did he pursue me and claim to have feelings for me when in his heart he was longing for her all this time?

My mind was bombarded with a swarm of questions but I had no time to address them as things continued to unfold before me.

"You're really here," Yoongi breathed out, staring at the red-tailed female in awe.

"Dawon?" Hoseok's voice cracked with thick emotion as he looked down at her in utter shock. She snapped her head towards him, a wide and devilish grin stretching across her lips while her eyes narrowed into slits.

"Hobi, my sweet brother. I've missed you," her tone was alluring and fantastical, like the sound of wind chimes tinkling in the breeze. It was deceptively pleasing and gentle - a veil that masked the dark, insidious nature within.

Hoseok faltered, struggling to find words. He continued to stare at her with watery eyes, a cross of both relief and devastation flooding his face. Then suddenly there was a shift as a bolt of anger struck across his features. I watched as his fingers grazed the hilt of his sword, a feeling of dread washing over me.

"Hoseok-"

But it was too late - he was already unsheathing his sword in one swift motion. I expected him to point it at Yoongi for not telling him that his sister was alive, but it seemed he hadn't realized that yet as he lunged for Jimin instead, pinning him against the railing and holding the sharp edge of the blade right beneath his chin. Jimin automatically put his hands up, his adam's apple bobbing as he gulped, obviously startled by Hoseok's sudden aggression.

"Your kind is responsible for this. You cursed her," he spat angrily, "Fix it now, or I'll throw you back in the water," Hoseok threatened, his teeth bared in fury.

"I can't help her," Jimin said carefully, his back arching over the edge of the ship.

"You were able to use Kat to start turning human. Can't we let Dawon take blood from one of us so she can turn human like you, without anyone else being cursed?" Yoongi asked urgently, his eyes wild with desperation.

"Technically yes, but how do you think you're going to do that? She won't come into this ship willingly. She's smart, and all she wants is to escape her curse. She doesn't care who she has to hurt to get what she wants. Even if we did manage to get her up here, she would try to drink every last drop of blood she could to become fully human right away," Jimin explained.

"Then why didn't you do that when we caught you?" Hoseok asked suspiciously, pressing his blade even further under Jimin's chin, nearly piercing the skin.

"You guys were lucky with me. Since I knew you would just kill me if I completely drained Katherine, I played it smart and made the deal with you guys. But Dawon knows none of you will kill her so nothing would stop her from draining whoever she needs to."

"We take the risk. She can have my blood," Hoseok said seriously, glancing at each of us.

Jimin scoffed, "You have no clue how dangerous sirens can really be."

Yoongi shook his head, "I'm not going to put the entire crew in danger. I knew this might happen and I'm prepared for what comes next-"

He had barely finished speaking before Hoseok swung his sword away from Jimin, pressing the small button on the hilt so it shrunk into a dagger right before he held it against Yoongi's neck, pressing it dangerously into his flesh. The air in Yoongi's throat hitched and he tried to lean away from the sharp edge, but Hoseok held him in place roughly by the arm. He brought his face menacingly close, their noses nearly touching. The weapon in his hand shook as he trembled with rage. He was livid.

"You fucking bastard! You knew?!" he yelled loudly, veins straining from the tension in his neck, "I trusted you and you lied to my face! Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now."

"Hoseok, let's just talk about this-" Namjoon started.

"Shut your damn mouth! He's been lying to all of us this entire time, don't you see that?!" Hoseok shouted, his chest heaving as he breathed heavily.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me, but just wait a second, Hoseok," Yoongi said as calmly as he could, "Let me bring her back to you."

"What do you mean?" Hoseok asked through clenched teeth.

"Let me jump in. She'll kiss me and I'll take the curse from her so she can be human again," Yoongi stated clearly, like it was the simplest thing he could say. He'd known all along that it might come to this, and he was ready to give up his freedom in exchange for hers.

"No," I found myself protestesting, even though I was still furious from his betrayal. I didn't know if he had ever really had feelings for me at all, but that didn't take away the fact that I had always loved him and still did, even if it was in a different way than it used to be. As upset and destroyed as I was because of him, I still didn't want to lose him. I had to wait for him to explain his side rather than immediately condemning him.

"Let me do this," Yoongi said, his gaze moving from me to Hoseok.

"Okay," Hoseok agreed quietly, sounding strained as he begrudgingly lowered the dagger. He was still enraged, but he knew this was his best chance to get his sister back.

The other men had been watching in silence, completely shocked at everything that was happening. Yoongi slowly looked at each one of them, his eyes full of emotion as he wordlessly said his goodbyes. Then his eyes found mine.

"I know I don't deserve your trust anymore. I know that you probably won't believe a word I say to you, but I never lied about how I felt for you, Kat," he said carefully, then he turned back to the others. "When Dawon was stabbed and she fell into the water, the rest of you didn't see since you were all fighting, but I ran to the edge of the boat and I saw a siren drag her down. I never knew for sure if she was alive or dead, I swear. I didn't know anything about how the curse worked, so for a long time I thought that she really was dead, that the siren had killed her. That's why I never told any of you about it," Yoongi explained.

Everyone remained silent and Yoongi sighed before continuing, "But I still had the tiniest hope that maybe she survived. Whenever we stopped somewhere, I tried asking around for information on sirens. None of the stories were ever the same, but one of the rumors was that they could lead you to the thing you want most in the world. I never believed it, but when those sirens attacked the ship during that storm, I decided to take a chance and capture one."

Yoongi's focus shifted to Jimin, "I knew Jimin wouldn't admit to having any abilities unless he felt like he had to. So I made him and the rest of you believe that I was going to sell him off if he didn't offer us something, and when he finally confirmed that he could bring us to anything we desired, I was honestly shocked at how perfectly it worked out. Then as he explained more about how the curse worked, I understood that Dawon was most likely a siren."

"And you still didn't tell us," Hoseok spat.

"I didn't want to get your hopes up if it turned out that she was still dead. I didn't know if she was even able to take on the curse or if the siren couldn't transfer it to her and killed her instead."

So he knew that she was probably alive, but he was never entirely sure until now.

It wasn't quite as terrible as I'd first thought, but he still had deceived us and I was still hurt and confused, unsure about just how much he had lied to me - to us. I couldn't even imagine how Hoseok felt.

"Hey! Don't make me come up there myself," a sweet, feminine voice called from the water.

We all moved to lean over the edge, finding Dawon floating on her back and displaying her sunset-colored scales. Her naked chest was covered only by the long strands of her brown hair that flowed out in waves. She smiled and let out a twinkling laugh, clearly enjoying the attention she was getting.

"Kat," Yoongi pulled my focus away from Dawon. "You're in charge now, okay? I know you'll take good care of them." he said quietly, glancing at the others one last time."I'm sorry I hid this from you all. I hope you can forgive me someday."

He looked like he wanted to say something more, but he restrained himself and I watched as he slowly stepped up onto the railing.

"Yoongi, you don't have to do this," I said with a wavering voice, despite knowing that he had already made up his mind. My stomach twisted and tangled in knots at the thought of him being trapped in the watery prison that continued to haunt me and everyone I cared about.

"Cap, please rethink this," Taehyung said firmly.

"You can't just leave us all of a sudden," Jungkook spoke softly.

"I have to. I can't let her stay like this," he replied. "You'lll be okay without me," Then, refusing to look back, he jumped off the edge and plunged into the water.

Dawon wasted no time as she instantly dove after him, a blur of shadows and bubbles and reddish orange flashing from the depths as she sought to free herself from her punishment.

"Yoongi!" I shouted, moving forward but then suddenly getting pulled back as someone grabbed my waist and held me against them. I struggled at first but quickly realized there was no point. I froze, watching the dark waters anxiously.

The silence was deafening as we waited, every second dragging on like an eternity. It was as if Time himself wanted to torture us with a mocking grin on his face as he watched the suspense thicken around us. The finally - finally, he allowed things to speed back up again.

A loud gasp ripped through the air as Dawon broke past the surface and struggled to catch her breath. She coughed and splashed in the water, and I caught a glimpse of her legs as they kicked to keep her afloat. Her tail was gone.

Yoongi took the curse from her. He's a siren now.

I couldn't stop myself as I spun around and threw my arms around the person that had been holding me back. I didn't cry, I was too numb for tears to appear, but my chest burned painfully as I pictured Yoongi sinking down to the deep abyss he now had to call home.

"Get a rope, let's pull her in!" Hoseok said from somewhere beside me. I heard boots shuffling as the pirates rushed to help Dawon, but they halted as another gasp came from the water.

I spun around, my head whipping to look down at the sea where I spotted Yoongi struggling for air. My heart slammed against my ribs painfully as I searched for his tail, but instead I saw his black pants covering his legs.

"What the hell?" Jimin muttered from behind me, realizing the same thing I did, "That's impossible."

"He's still human," I stated in surprise.

"They both are," Taehyung commented, just as confused as the rest of us.

"I thought that couldn't happen?" Jungkook questioned, frowning but looking relieved as he turned to face Jimin.

"It shouldn't. I don't understand it at all," Jimin frowned.

"We can worry about it later, let's just get them up here first," Jin said as he walked back towards the edge with a rope in hand. We all helped pull the two of them up into the boat, and Namjoon quickly took off his large leather coat to drape over Dawon's thin frame, covering her nakedness. Dawon immediately threw herself at Hoseok, embracing him tightly.

"Hobi!" she cried, both of them sobbing as they were finally reunited.

"God, I missed you. I never thought I'd have you back," Hoseok cried, whimpering as he pulled her even closer to him. They clung to each other desperately and I felt my eyes grow watery at their reunion.

"I love you so much," she choked out, full of emotion. She was completely different from what she had been only minutes ago as a siren, and I couldn't help but think of the way Jimin had slowly changed over time to become more emotional as well.

After a few moments of them hugging, Dawon slowly stepped out of her brother's arms and turned around, her gaze scanning over each of us carefully. She smiled sadly at Jin, Jungkook,Taehyung, Namjoon, then she froze when she saw Jimin and I standing near each other. She looked at both of us strangely, her brows pulling together with lack of recognition. She lingered on us before she finally faced Yoongi.

Wordlessly, she stepped toward him, both of them still sopping wet from the ocean. He watched her every move, his face overwhelmed and nervous and relieved. Then she ran and jumped into his arms and kissed him deeply.

I was caught off guard by how much the scene hurt me. I was the one that broke it off with Yoongi. I was the one who realized first that we weren't right for each other. I was the one who knew Yoongi still loved Dawon. And yet, seeing them together in front of me was something I never thought would happen, and I wasn't prepared for it.

I felt Jimin's eyes on me and I did my best to keep myself expressionless. He still didn't know that Yoongi and I had put an end to what was happening between us. I glanced at him, planning to just quickly see what kind of face he was giving me, but my eyes stayed glued to his as I took in all the concern they held. I could see that he just wanted to comfort me, to hold me. His serious gaze communicated everything, and I could practically feel his arms wrap themselves around me as his eyes told me what he was wishing to do.

But that was exactly what I had been trying so hard to avoid. I couldn't let him swoop in and be my knight in shining armor. I didn't want to just go to him when I was hurting. I wanted us to go to each other on our own terms, when it was just about us and how we felt for each other rather than coming together as the result of something bad happening.

My resolve to hide how hurt I was by Yoongi came crashing down and I was suddenly jogging off, making my way to my bedroom so I could be alone. Everything was just too overwhelming lately and I needed time to process and figure out how I was feeling about it all.

I only had about half an hour to myself before Jimin came and softly spoke my name from the other side of the door.

"Katherine?"

For a second, I debated pretending to be asleep, but I knew he wouldn't fall for it so I hesitantly got up and opened the door. He stood there, his tired eyes scanning mine while he tried to decipher what I was thinking.

"Are you okay?" he asked seriously.

"I'm fine." I replied automatically. He raised an accusatory eyebrow at me.

"No, you're not," he said before brushing past me and walking into the room. "How could you be? He lied to you and I'm sure seeing them together didn't feel good." He sat on the side of the bed, looking up at me where I stayed standing by the door.

"Okay, so I'm not fine," I admitted, crossing me arms and walking a little closer. "I'm pissed off at him for lying to all of us. And no, it's not exactly easy to see him with her even though I already knew he still loved her."

"You did?" he frowned confusedly. I nodded.

"I realized it a few days ago. He had never let her go, I just didn't know at the time that it was because he thought she might still be alive," I explained.

Suddenly I realized something, and nerves shot through my veins as I asked Jimin a question I dreaded the answer to. "Did you know that she was still alive, too? You could see his desire, right? Is that why you always told me to stay away from Yoongi? Because you knew he was longing for her and you wanted to keep me from getting hurt?"

If it was true that he did know about Dawon being alive, his attempt to keep me from getting hurt would have been in vain because him keeping that secret from me as well would have been even more painful.

Jimin watched me carefully, then shook his head. "No. I never fully focused on his desire, I only felt out the general location of what everyone wanted so I could figure out which place to go to first. All I knew was that it was a person, but I never saw that it was his past lover. I only got a clear picture of her when we got very close, and that's how I knew to sing for her when we got there."

"Then... why would you have asked me to stay away from him if it wasn't that?" I asked, noticing him straighten up.

"I still can't really explain it to you. I promise I will tell you sometime soon, but it can't be right now. Please just trust me," he said quietly.

"It's hard to trust anyone right now after what Yoongi did. But you don't have to worry about me being with him anymore. We agreed that we weren't right for each other a couple days ago. He has Dawon now anyways," I whispered the last part. I wanted to be happy for Yoongi since he had finally found what he had been wanting for so long, but it was impossible to feel glad after all the lies he told me.

"So he's not going to go after you anymore?" Jimin asked slowly, looking at me with a dark, unreadable expression.

"No. There's no future for us together," I answered, feeling butterflies in my belly from the way he was staring at me.

Silently, Jimin reached out and grabbed my wrists, carefully pulling me towards him while his deep but gentle gaze held mine. He remained seated on the edge of the bed as he brought me closer so I was standing between his legs. Then his dark lashes fluttered and his eyes drifted closed, and he nuzzled his face into the crook of my neck, his arms snaking around my lower back.

"You shouldn't have told me that," he whispered against my throat, lips tickling my neck and his fingers finding their way under my shirt to lightly graze the skin there, sparks of heat sprawling out from his touch. My hands gripped his shoulders to keep myself upright, and I couldn't stop the shiver that spread through every inch of me, igniting my entire body in a pleasant warmth. He hummed at my reaction to him, continuing to feather his fingertips over my skin.

"Jimin..." I trailed off, my eyes closing at the euphoric feeling he gave me, "You- I'm not in a...good place right now and I don't want to use you t-to make me feel better," I barely managed to get the sentence out, too distracted by his hands on my back and his breath on my neck.

"I want to make you feel better. Make you feel good," he mumbled, his lips brushing over the sensitive area and making me breathe out.

"But you always push me away," I whispered. He brushed his nose up and down the side of my neck.

"I know. I'm sorry, I'm just scared," he mumbled, his voice low and soft.

"Why are you scared?" I asked. He paused and leaned back to face me fully, looking into my eyes.

"Because I don't deserve a happy ending. I don't deserve to be with someone as incredible as you. And I know I can't give you what you deserve," he spoke breathily. "I should keep pushing you away like I have been, but the more I start to feel, the less I can stay away from you. Especially after you almost died. After that, I constantly just want to hold you." He moved his hands lower to my hips, then steadily slid them up my sides.

I reached my hand out to cup his face, brushing my thumb over his cheekbone. "You do deserve a happy ending, Jimin. You deserve so much, and I don't understand why you think you can't make me happy when I know you can."

So much for keeping him at a distance for now.

It was just that every time I was with him, it seemed harder and harder to stay away. We were like two magnets slowly finding their way to each other and the closer we got, the more we couldn't resist each other's pull.

He intently scanned each of my features, then he stood up, filling what little space had been left between our bodies. His chest brushed against mine while his hold remained at my sides. I slid my hands from his shoulders to his upper arms, enjoying the curve of his biceps there.

"I wish you were right, kitten. There's so much I want to do for you...with you...to you," he bit his lip and his cheeks were flushed a rosy red.

"Why am I not right? Tell me," I asked gently.

He shook his head, closing his eyes. I noticed for the first time then that he had sweat dripping down the sides of his face, and his lips started to part as he breathed through his mouth, his brows pulling together.

"Mmm, I can't. Maybe... Maybe one day, you'll-" he struggled to get the words out and I was just realizing how completely exhausted he looked when he started teetering.

"Jimin? Are you okay?" I asked in concern. He blinked slowly, squeezing his shut for a second. He shook his head and groaned.

Something is definitely wrong, I thought in a panic, hating how ill he was starting to look.

"I don't think so," he replied, and I yelped when out of nowhere his eyes rolled back and he fell forward. I gasped as I caught him, doing my best to hold his weight up as his entire body leaned against me, limp and unresponsive.

"Jimin!"

• • •

Author's Note:

I'm sorry for the longer wait. I was in Mexico this week and I found very little time to work on this chapter. I'm finally back and I was able to finish it, so I hope you enjoyed!

Why do you think Yoongi didn't turn siren, but Dawon still became human?

And what's wrong with Jimin? :(

I love you all so much. Whether you are a very involved reader that comments and votes, or a silent reader that enjoys reading this story quietly, I appreciate every single one of you ♡

-Hoseokiiss

July 7, 2019