Crimson Park

Chapter 34

Finally, after a short trip up a hill, you arrived at your accommodations. A small house with a clear view of the only road that accessed it. The village was walkable, but otherwise the home was fairly secluded.

"How long do you think we'll be here?" you asked.

"Hopefully not long. I expect they'll catch Minho soon – then there is the trial. Then you're free to go wherever you please."

"That's not necessarily true."

"What do you mean?"

"My name is everywhere now... The moment I step onto new soil I'll be spotted and vilified."

"You know how to get across borders undetected."

"I did, until you all arrested my tailor."

Jungkook looked at you for a moment, then – without saying anything – left the room and returned to the car. When he came back, he had with him a black duffle bag. You recognized it right away. It was the black duffle bag. The one in the locker. The one you gave Jungkook the key to the night you were arrested. Your eyes widened in shock.

"You never turned it in?" you said bewildered.

He shook his head. You opened the bag and there everything was: the money; your fake ID; your fake passport; Jungkook's fake passport.

"When this is all over," he began to speak slowly. "You can go wherever you want to go. I won't stop you."

You didn't say anything as you looked over the contents. There was the deed to the home you bought as well. The home you thought you'd live with Jungkook in one day."

"What will you do after this?"

He gazed back at you for a moment as he considered what to say.

"I think I'm done with the force."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "It doesn't suit me anymore."

"Then where will you go? What will you do?"

"I don't know. But... I've got a little time to figure it out."

⁂

It was late night, and once again you lay in your bed while you counted the speckles on the ceiling. You were stuck in your head, thinking about the passport – Minho - the house – Jungkook.

You sat up, pulling the covers off your legs and crawled out of bed and onto the floor, tip-toeing carefully across the hardwood and into the living room. Jungkook was laying on the couch, his eyes closed and his breathing rhythmic, looking peaceful and handsome in the pale moonlight. You crept to his side, then softly sat down on the edge of the sofa. You didn't need to wake him - he mustn't have been sleeping too deeply, because his eyes sprung open, awake and alert, and locking immediately with yours.

He watched you carefully, waiting for you to do something, too afraid to speak or move. Your heart rate picked up as your anxiety spiked, but you easily built up the courage to lean down over him and bring your lips to his. The kiss was chaste, slow, but it still made you burn up inside. You pulled back and his eyes fluttered open again and stared into you.

"I'm cursed, Jungkook," you whispered.

He swallowed. "You're not cursed."

"I come with a death sentence."

"I don't care."

"I can't promise you a simple life or a white picket fence..."

"Then don't. What do you want, Y/N?"