⚠️ WARNING: EXTREME MATURE THEMES ⚠️
This story is intended for mature audiences and contains themes of violence, gore, abuse, rape, death, depression, self-harm, and anxiety. Reader discretion is advised.
New York is the most expensive city in the...
We reach our house—the BT21 home. Together, we head straight to the CORTEX room. Ian runs forward, pushes the glass door open, and throws his arms around me.
"you did it!" he says happily.
"Yes, yes, yes! Ian—you're squeezing me," I reply, half-laughing.
He immediately lets go. We step inside, and everyone shakes my hand, offering congratulations.
"Easy one. No need to exaggerate," Taehyung mutters.
I clench my jaw, my fist itching to punch him, but I say nothing. Suga hands the pendrive over to Namjoon. It's already three in the afternoon.
"Let's have lunch first, and then work," Jin suggests.
Everyone agrees, and we head down to the living room. I sink into the couch, finally relaxing a bit, chatting with the boys and filling them in on a few details I noticed. Jungkook comes over and sets a first aid box on the table. That's when I realize I have a few cuts on my hands.
I blink, surprised. I didn't expect him to notice.
"Thank you," I say softly.
He nods, sits on the couch, and quietly scrolls through his phone.
"J-Hope, do you kn—" Ian rushes in, stopping mid-sentence when he sees the first aid kit.
"There it is," he says, grabbing it. He sits beside me and gently takes my hands, examining the cuts.
"I told you to wear long sleeves. You never listen." He sighs.
"What? It's hot outside," I protest.
He cleans the cuts carefully. A few hisses escape me as the antiseptic stings. The boys watch, clearly confused. They probably don't know what Ian and I really are to each other.
After lunch, I head to my room for some rest. Ian, Jin, Namjoon, and J-Hope go back to the CORTEX to check the pendrive.
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In the CORTEX
"Bloody bastard. This schedule is insane. Our hands are full now," RM mutters. Everyone nods.
"Let's call a meeting. It's time we tell them everything," Jhope suggests.
"Yeah," Jin agrees.
Soon, Jimin comes to inform me of the meeting, and together we head back into the CORTEX. Everyone gathers around the same table we used this morning.
"Congratulations, Ms. Olivia and Mr. Austin," RM begins, "you successfully completed the mission we gave you. Olivia, we've observed you're fast and courageous—that'll be a great help. And Mr. Austin, you're cooperative, quick in decision-making, and always finding solutions. That's invaluable."
"Thank you, sir. We look forward to working with you," Ian and I reply in unison.
"Now that you've gained our trust, you're officially part of us. We'd like to show you our data," RM says, signaling Jungkook to take over.
