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"What are you whispering to yourself?" Namjoon asked the Bloodhound, his voice laced with irritation.
Bloodhound scoffed, shaking his head. "See, Mr. Kim, this guy is getting on my nerves. Just leave. You're not supposed to be here."
Before Namjoon could respond, Jimin's voice cut through the air like a blade.
"Mr. Yu, your daughter, Yu Minjae... I heard she just started elementary school. How's she doing? I'm thinking of paying a small visit to her." He titled his head as if contemplating.
The room tensed. My breath hitched.
It was the first time I had seen Jimin and Namjoon this intimidating. They suited their roles far too well—dangerous men with no remorse, no hesitation. But I knew them beyond the titles they carried. I had seen the boys beneath the bloodstained suits, the ones they used to be before this life swallowed them whole.
If only they had chosen wisdom over wrath, would today have been different? Would I ever escape the grasp of Dae-Seong?
"You motherfucker! Just leave! Can't you just leave?!" Kang Dae-Seong’s voice ripped me from my thoughts.
Jimin's head tilted slightly. "Are you talking to us?"
He moved forward, closing the distance in mere seconds. His hand fisted into Kang Dae-Seong’s collar, yanking him forward.
"I can’t leave until I get what’s mine," Jimin growled, his voice eerily low.
"Tsk. Yours?" Kang scoffed, pushing Jimin away. "You’re just a pathetic loser. Don’t you remember what happened that day?"
Jimin stumbled slightly, but it wasn’t the shove that shook him. It was the words.
Disbelief flickered across his face. And something else. Fear.
Regret.
Kang’s smirk widened. "How about we do that again?"
Jimin didn’t respond. His silence gave Kang more confidence, his grin stretching cruelly.
Namjoon, however, remained unreadable. His face was calm, but his eyes held sorrow I couldn’t understand.
"Ah… Y/N?" Kang’s gaze flicked to me, amusement dancing in his eyes. "Does she know about that?"
"Shut your mouth, you filthy rat!" Jimin’s voice snapped through the room, his rage bleeding into every syllable.
Kang ignored him, his smirk unwavering. "I doubt she doesn’t."
My eyes darted to Namjoon. His jaw was clenched so tightly I could see the muscle twitch beneath his skin.
"I thought I wouldn’t have to fight an asshole like you," Namjoon muttered.
Then, without warning, his fist slammed into Kang Dae-Seong’s face, sending him sprawling to the ground.
Kang groaned but chuckled darkly. "Why? Don’t you remember that night when you split up? When you all lost every ounce of humanity left in you?"
One thing I had learned about Kang Dae-Seong—his words were weapons, sharpened with manipulation. He twisted truth and lies so effortlessly, molding them into a trap.
And it worked. On everyone. Except Kim Namjoon.
Namjoon, a man of words and wisdom, wasn’t easy to break.
"Kang, shut the fuck up! You son of a gun!" Namjoon’s temper snapped, his voice booming through the space. "Stop bringing up things that aren’t necessary!"
For the first time, Kang hesitated. He swallowed.
"You’re just scared to accept the truth," he muttered, but this time, his voice shook.
Jimin exhaled sharply. "Ain’t no way."
Then, without hesitation, he raised his gun.
The gunshot rang through the air, sharp and final. Kang Dae-Seong’s body dropped. A single bullet lodged in his head.
Silence.
Everyone’s faces turned pale.
Except for Bloodhound. His expression remained unreadable.
"I’ll take my leave," Bloodhound said, pushing himself to his feet. He dusted off his suit, unfazed. "He was no use, anyway."
Namjoon gave a curt nod.
Jimin, however, was frozen. His gaze remained locked on Kang’s lifeless body, his fingers still curled around the gun.
I couldn’t breathe.
A choked gasp escaped my lips.
The metallic scent of blood flooded my senses, mingling with the acrid bite of gunpowder. The weight of the moment crushed me, pressing down on my chest until it hurt to inhale.
My body refused to move. Every nerve, every muscle, was paralyzed in horror.
This wasn’t the first time I had seen someone die in front of me.
But it never got easier.
Tears burned down my cheeks, hot and relentless. Fear clawed at my throat, wrapping around me like a vice. Disgust curled in my stomach, nausea threatening to spill over.
No matter how many times I told myself I was used to this life, I wasn’t.
I never would be.
As my vision blurred with tears, Bloodhound took a step forward. Jimin’s head snapped toward him.
Before anyone could process what was happening, before Namjoon could react—
Jimin pulled the trigger.
Another shot.
Bloodhound crumpled. A bullet to the back of his head.
His bodyguards paled, their hands trembling at their sides.
Namjoon spun around, eyes wild. "JIMIN?! What the actual fuck? Do you even know what you just did?" His voice cracked with disbelief. "Don’t you have even a little bit of control over yourself?!"
Jimin exhaled, almost lazily, before tossing the gun to the side.
Choi’s gaze flickered to me before he let out a long sigh.
"Mr. Kim, let it go," Hyun-Wook spoke, voice calm. "He was our enemy anyway. This was bound to happen."
Bound to happen.
Like it was fate.
Like death was nothing more than an inevitable conclusion.
