MALEVOLENT HEART | TK

Chapter Twenty Two

***

"Here stands a man
At the bottom of a hole he's made
Still sweating from the rush
His body tense
His hands, they shake
Oh this, this is a mad boy."

Flames swirled around him in waves, covering his body in a warmth he couldn't quite describe — it was deadly and yet, so appealing. He's always loved the darker sides of the world, the destructiveness of it, the smell of burning wood and the sound of cracking flames. It brought him a type of comfort that he couldn't find in anything else. It was dangerous, destructively so, but it was something that made Yoongi feel more alive than he's ever felt before — acting on his impulses and his primal instincts always made him feel like he owned the world. He didn't, no one could, but in moments like that one, the shadows of his mind overtook the light and made him feel like nothing could be greater than living based on your instincts and desires.

Walking out of the burning house, Yoongi gripped the wooden box in his arms tighter, making sure to hold it as close to him as he could because, dropping it and letting it turn to ash in those heavenly flames behind him, meant death — Jeon Jeongguk was going to murder him if he were to return without that box.

Yoongi didn't know what resided in it but, deep inside, he knew it had something to do with Taehyung's past. Jeongguk didn't care that much about himself or others so, if he wanted that box that much, it probably meant something to him.

Stepping away from the house, Yoongi looked back, glancing at the flames that overtook the whole building, making it glow in a bright light that seemed to purify all the darkness it held. Letting go of the thoughts flooding his mind, the man turned around, tightening the mask on his face as he strolled towards his motorcycle. The mask he was wearing wasn't a safety measure or an attempt at covering his identity — it was a warning. He didn't care if people saw him walking out of a burning abandoned mansion and neither did Jeongguk.

But they both cared about the message that mask could provide to that monster of a man.

The mask of the Katharsis Unit which all the members have worn at some point in their lives. The masks were not meant to hide their faces, but unite them and make them stronger so that they could take down the sole threat of their existence — Jeon Jeongguk. The masks of the Katharsis Unit were connected to each other so that, whenever one was activated, the others would receive its location and a footage of what the member was seeing. It was a process of creating a hive mind — a link between all of them so that no weaknesses could be found.

And still, they've all been weak.

Weaker than one single man, for Jeon Jeongguk was merely that — a man.

And yet, he had taken them all down.

Lowering his eyes back to the box, Yoongi allowed the mask to record footage of its existence, already aware that the people watching it will alert that monster.

And, by doing so, they'd lead him right where Jeongguk needed him.

In his claws.

***

"You're not leaving."

Jeon Jeongguk stopped buttoning his shirt and turned towards that voice that seemed to bring him so much peace he couldn't even believe it was real. Meeting Taehyung's irises, seeing the beauty of them, would always strike Jeongguk — harder, deeper — than any bullet could. Nothing could ever be as painful as seeing Taehyung's inhumane beauty and his angelic features. It sometimes seemed unreal — he seemed unreal. Jeongguk couldn't understand it Taehyung was a breathing human being or just a creation of his unstable mind.