BURN AFTER READING

IV. Lovesick In Lisbon

"Rumex? Earth to Rumex." The crackling of Seokjin's voice through your earpiece startles you out of your reverie. You blink, attuning your senses to the bustling street that surrounds you, realizing that in your daze, the bica you'd ordered had turned completely cold, and you'd left half your pastry uneaten. It's not worth it to turn to the kind café owner and ask for another one, you muse. After all, that's not what you were here for anyway.

"___? Is everything okay?" Seokjin asks once more, concern evident in his voice. He'd broken protocol, you realized. Spies were never supposed to deviate from their given code-names during a mission, it put everything at risk. These days, there was no telling who was lurking within earshot or who'd tapped your phone line.

"I'm fine, RJ. Just scoping out a new location today to see if I can find any intel," you cut off his call with your strictly professional reply, not daring to repeat the mistake he'd made. You stand, leaving a few euros on the table as you walk the winding roads further into the neighbourhood, surrounded by street musicians and the cries of street vendors beckoning you in to take a look.

You knew why he'd done it. Seokjin could sense your worry from a mile away. He'd always been able to. The two of you had been given ten days in Lisbon to track down the human trafficker masquerading as an art dealer that had been evading the agency since long before Havana had brought the two of you together once again.

Four days in and the two of you were nowhere near finding anything on the whereabouts of any members of the trafficking ring. You knew they were parading around somewhere in Lisbon, but the two of you were stuck. Both in your mission and with each other.

The last time the two of you had been in Lisbon, it had been on shaky grounds, dealing with the fallout of Yoongi's death. For what it had been worth back then, at least the two of you had love to carry you through it. This time though, the air between you two was a different kind of troubling. Seokjin had been nothing but kind, almost placating. He'd never started an argument, had always taken your shortness with a smile.

And that was what perturbed you the most. It was almost as if he didn't care anymore, as if he treated you like another random person walking these streets. The history between the two of you wasn't that easy for you to forget, or to get over, and you knew your cold, defensive exterior was only proof that he still affected you so.

Pausing, you're drawn to the glimmer of a storefront. Intricate, delicate designs in gold and silver filigree greet your eyes as you peruse over the rows of necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. Your eye catches on a particular design, the gold cuff glinting in the afternoon sunlight.

5 Years Ago

"Pretty, isn't it?" Seokjin ponders, staring at the delicate filigree cuff your eyes drifted to. "But not as pretty as you."

A blush colors your cheeks as you playfully shove him.

"Pretty, but also distracting," you reply. "It's not what we're here for."

Lisbon had you both lovesick. In the wake of Yoongi's death, Seokjin had become clingier than ever, too scared to let you wander for even a second. The you of a few weeks ago would've chastised him for being so distracted, but the you of right now welcomed it.

Things were good like this. Pretending the two of you were a normal couple in love, one who ate ice cream and held hands and went for sunset walks. A couple who didn't have their dearest friend ripped from their lives at the hands of a notorious murderer. A couple who wasn't now tasked with tracking said murderer down.

Seokjin's hand found yours, his thumb brushing gently over your knuckles.

"Let me buy it for you anyway, please? A pretty bracelet for my pretty girl."