Love Is Selfish | JJK

Chapter X: Insurgent Doyenne

"I'll drop you." No chance in hell he'll just wander about these lonely streets till he's easy prey for any street gangs to snatch up.

On reaching the car, I pulled open the back-door and gestured for the boy to get in. Closing the the door shut, I turned to walk over to the other side of the car, where the driver's seat was. Unfortunately for me—yet quite good considering our present dearth of immortality—Jin beat me to it, even turning the key in the ignition and allowing the engines to roar back to life. Jimin called shotgun and so, I got into the back with 'V'.

His words from earlier were still fresh in mind as I considered the likelihoods of him not trusting us. Well, who was I kidding, if I was in his place, I wouldn't trust myself either. I'm just a stranger who picked him up off the grounds. And dusted him and invited him to my car so that I can drop him off. But hey, still a stranger. If Mommy had been alive long enough, she'd probably have taught me 'Stranger Danger'. But she doesn't have to worry—from wherever she is—for Aunt had stepped up as her role of an Amah and taught it all to me. Brooding is futile though, maybe I should just ask him.

"Why do you call yourself V though?" The boy shifted to look at me, his eyebrows creasing as he deliberated over a suitable reply. 

"I told you, V for victory."

I gave him a look. "Fine. It's a codename. An alias. A pseudonym of one of the most popular singers of the Twenty-First century. It seemed to suit me, so I chose it. My real name's Taehyung. Kim Taehyung." YES! He trusts me! Well, enough to share his name at least.

"Oh," I said, trying to remember if I knew this guy called 'V'. Dominie was good, but not good enough. All that came to mind was some boy-band called 'BTS' in the fist half and 'Backstreet Boys' in the latter. Or maybe the other way around? I really had to brush up on Gaoler's Annals again.

A small sigh left Taehyung's lips. He does sigh a lot. Guess an  intensive training on discerning body language really paid off, huh. Gotta thank Dominie for that. "Those people, the ones you saw, who had me down, they're dangerous men. Dangerous people from even more dangerous mobs and mafias. It's better if those people don't know much about my real identity."

"But how'd you end up dealing with such men?" Jimin—ever the level-headed one—asked the more important question.

"I uh, 'm an Eight." Another sigh. "I needed money for my sister's dowry and a few other things. Took out a loan. I can't get this kind of money from the Banks, they shun me, people like me. They'd catechize far too much about withdrawing such such a large sum. They wouldn't understand. No one does. If people did, we wouldn't be where we are today."

"They can do that? No one catches them?" Dumb question but it slipped out before I could stop myself. He nodded and I glanced uncomfortably at Jimin before looking away. 

"So- yeah, that's pretty much it. My whole life story," he chuckled. "Needed money urgently, took out too much, not smart but not a lot of other choices. And now they're behind me. At least  she was happy."

"I'm sorry," I interrupted. So sorry. "Was?" 

"Yeah," he sounded choked up. Like he's trying to suppress a certain emotion. Kudos to him for even bothering to try any more. "She passed away, last year. Too sudden and unexpected." His eyes were watery red now, tears threatening to spill over. "I wanted her to be happy, enjoy with her husband. Guess I got my wish. She didn't live long enough to be unhappy with him." The tears won, and a single drop streaked down his cheek.

"I'm not sure myself. Of how she died. I was away on some business when I heard the news. Everyone I ask just tells me about what a little Miss Perfect she was, perfect to society. Till the question of how she died comes up and a hush falls over them. It's like, they've been forced to keep quiet." I wiped the tear and held onto Tae's hand. "It's far too fishy. Their marriage, I mean. Why would a Four want to marry an Eight? They weren't in love, well at least he wasn't. My sister..." He broke off.