Tangeled in shadows | Min Yoongi

Chapter 8: A Line Crossed

She knife felt heavy in Yoona's hand, almost as if the weight of her father's death had materialized into the cold metal. She had Yoongi cornered this time, no tricks, no backup—just her and him in a dimly lit, empty room. The perfect moment. The perfect chance.

She could end it all here.

Her heart pounded in her chest, her breaths coming in short, shallow gasps as she watched him, leaning against the wall, his eyes locked onto hers. He wasn't fighting back—just standing there, almost daring her to make the final move. His hand was on his own knife, but he hadn't drawn it. He was just watching, waiting.

Yoongi had faced death countless times before, but this—her—felt different.

"Do it," he said quietly, his voice calm, as if he had resigned himself to whatever she was about to do. "What are you waiting for?"

Yoona's hand trembled as she held the knife aloft, the tip so close to his chest that she could feel the warmth of his body radiating through the cool metal. But the closer she got, the more the world seemed to blur around her. Her breath hitched in her throat as conflicting emotions surged through her—anger, grief, confusion, and something else, something she didn't want to name.

"I hate you," she whispered, her voice shaking as she tried to steady her hand. "You ruined everything."

Yoongi's eyes softened, just a flicker, as he watched her struggle. "If that's true," he said, his voice low, "then finish it."

The blade wavered in her hand as she stepped even closer, the tension between them suffocating. She had dreamed of this moment for so long, of finally avenging her father, of making Yoongi pay for all the pain he had caused. But now that the moment was here, something was stopping her—something deeper than the hatred that had once consumed her.

Her hand shook as she pressed the knife against his chest, the point digging into his shirt, but she couldn't make the final move.

"What's stopping you?" Yoongi asked, his voice a mixture of challenge and curiosity.

Yoona swallowed hard, her throat tight with unshed tears. She hated how vulnerable she felt, standing here with her worst enemy, unable to do what she had sworn to herself she would. "I don't know," she choked out, the tears finally spilling over.

The knife slipped from her fingers, clattering to the floor as Yoona pressed her hands to her face, sobbing. She felt broken, torn apart by the weight of her father's death, by the years of anger she had carried with her.

"You killed him," she cried, her voice barely a whisper through her tears. "You killed my father. Why? Why did you do it?"

Yoongi's face hardened for a moment, his eyes darkening as he hesitated. He seemed to weigh his words carefully, knowing that whatever he said now could change everything between them. When he finally spoke, his voice was quieter than she had ever heard it.

"Your father wasn't the man you think he was," he said slowly. "He was dangerous. He made choices that put a lot of people in danger. I didn't want to kill him—but I didn't have a choice."

Yoona shook her head, stepping back from him as her tears continued to fall. She spat, her voice raw with grief. "He wasn't like you. He wasn't a murderer."

"No," Yoongi agreed, his eyes never leaving hers. "He wasn't like me. But he wasn't clean, either. He made deals with the kind of people who wouldn't have hesitated to kill you to get what they wanted."

Yoona's heart clenched painfully in her chest, her mind reeling. She didn't want to believe him. She wanted to hold on to the image she had of her father—the man who had raised her, who had protected her. But Yoongi's words, his calm, unflinching gaze, made her doubt everything she thought she knew.