bloodline. ateez x reader

|4| free speech

It's hard to imagine life without certain people. You put your heart and soul into the relationship between you, invest all your time into experiencing them. You become assimilated with their thoughts, dispositions, and nature. Without them, the world is just filled with blues and greys.

Five and a half days ago, the local police reported a massacre at the center mall on the outskirts of town. Everyone was presumed dead and the mall is and has been closed ever since.

Nalini has been waiting for this moment ever since she first starting working as a reporter. From the moment she signed her contract to the last story she published in Kinsung newspaper, she's been waiting for a big story to get her on the headlines.

Was it selfish of her to take this horrible genocide as an opportunity? Maybe, but she didn't care. She wanted this.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Haruji." Her boss said for the fourteenth time, crossing his arms and looking at her from across his desk. "But I can't give you that story. I was specifically asked not to cover it."

"What?" She exclaimed, trying not to be too rude, but her eagerness pushed her questions. "By who? Who doesn't want this absolute tragedy in our paper?" It's the press' job to cover stories like these in their weekly print, they can't just ignore something like this.

Her boss, Mr. Jin Sookyun, gave her a small shrug and looked at the papers in front of him. He wasn't telling her something. "...You're not telling me the truth." She muttered and crossed her arms, straightened her posture, and lifted her head, demonstrating her stubbornness. It felt childish but it looked classy. She might've practiced this look in the mirror.

He chuckled at her brace accusation. "You remind me of my own daughter." Mr. Sookyun said fondly, watching the short girl stand her ground in front of him. "Not afraid of authority and too afraid to back down. I'll tell you a secret, Nalini Haruji, but you can't tell anyone else in this building or outside this building, got it?"

"Yes, sir," She whispered and leaned forward, inching her head closer so she could hear his hushed whispers.

He spoke so quietly it felt like a ghost was mumbling in the corner of the room, "Someone from the Armed Government paid us a shitload of money to keep quiet. Someone who wanted to be kept anonymous, and for a good reason, I bet. I'm set for life! I'm retiring once this whole thing blows over..." He motioned to the workers and writers outside his office, typing away on their keyboards. "I just need to make sure nobody here writes about it. Y'know the man who paid me is a big deal when he has a suspicious amount of money like that. I could be dead if it gets out-"

"Wait, wait," Nalini interrupted, her eyebrows furrowed and her hand brought to his face, stopping his words. "You're saying someone in the country's armed government is paying you to pretend nothing ever happened?"

"Yeah! And the police are in on it too. As far as citizens know, the whole ordeal was a mystery."

She looked at him like he was insane. "Sir, this... this could mean something very illegal is happening. Something the government doesn't know about? What if it's a terrorist attack of some sort? It would make sense if why the police don't want to panic the public... but why the armed government?"

"Who cares? This is great!" He giggled and swatted away her words. His laughter sounded somewhat twisted in the journalist's ears. "Nalini, you have to promise me... promise me you won't say anything?"

"...Yeah." She gulped, returning her hands to her sides and standing straight, looking him in the eyes. Her boss has been so good to her over the years, she'd hate to betray him. "I won't."

"Good," He smiled and turned back to his stack of papers lying on his desk.

Just a few hours later, Nalini was at a bustling bar with her best friend of four years.