FATAL TROUBLE | JAY

31 - The Art of Arson

JAY'S POV

Being Ghost, the town's most wanted assassin, has never been easy, and yet, I've been doing it for so long that it's become second nature, like the way you breathe without thinking, the way your heart keeps beating even when everything inside you feels dead. It's the art of slipping into the shadows, of making myself invisible, of carving out pieces of my soul until there's nothing left but the job. And the job, well, it's all that matters.

I made everyone believe they would never find out who I am while I've been hiding in plain sight, and that's the trick, isn't it? The paradox of being nothing and everything at once. To be the ghost who walks among them, unseen yet present, as real as their own fears and yet no more tangible than a whisper in the dark. They call me a shadow, a myth, a nightmare they dare not speak aloud. But what they don't realize is that I'm just as human as they are—just as breakable.

The thing about hiding in plain sight is that you start to forget where the mask ends and where you begin. You become the lie you told so many times that the truth feels foreign, something distant and unreachable. I'm trapped between what they see and who I really am, as if I'm holding onto two sides of a mirror, with only darkness in between.

But then there's her.

She doesn't know it yet, but she's unraveling me in ways I never thought possible. Each glance, each word, cuts through me, peeling back layers I'd buried so deep I'd forgotten they were there. I keep telling myself I should stay away, that she's just another person who could bring my whole world crashing down, but it's too late. I'm drawn to her in ways I can't explain, like she's the only bit of light in a life I've lived entirely in shadow.

And God, it's killing me.

Every time I see her, I feel this ache—this terrible, twisting ache that reminds me of all the things I'll never have, all the moments I've sacrificed in pursuit of survival. She doesn't know I'm deceiving her, and I dread the moment she does. I dread the moment when I'll have to confront her about who I've been this whole time, playing two roles in making her life more miserable than it already is. 

She doesn't know that every look she gives me, every accidental brush of her hand, is a mistake she'll pay for a thousand times over if anyone finds out. Because here's the brutal truth: in this world, love is a weakness. Attachment is a threat. And she is both.

I suck in a breath as I make my way to the gym lockers where Jinyoung used to receive orders from whoever is planning on ending Y/N's life, my eyes scanning the area around me. No sign of strange faces or suspicious shadows. Just the hollow silence of an empty gym and the hum of the fluorescent lights overhead. But something doesn't sit right; the air feels too still, too calculated. I press forward, footsteps quiet, muscles coiled, ready for the first flicker of movement. Because someone out there wants her dead, and they're making damn sure they stay invisible.

It's twisted, really, the lengths they go to destroy her. But the more they try, the more I'll tighten my grip, hold her close, keep her in a world they can't touch. They think they're dealing with some fragile target, an easy mark. They couldn't be more wrong.

I stop short at the lockers, the chill of metal beneath my fingertips as I pull open Jinyoung's usual one. Empty. Too clean. Like someone scrubbed it bare, washed away any trace of him or his plans. I clench my jaw, anger coursing through my veins because I know it's only a matter of time before they make their next move.

But then I see it—a piece of paper, small and crumpled, wedged in the corner as if it's meant for me only. Unfolding it slowly, I raise my eyebrow at the jagged handwriting. Tonight. Choi's estate. Midnight. A smirk slowly forms on my lips and I can't help the dark satisfaction that seeps through me. Choi's estate? If this is their attempt to corner me, they've made a grave miscalculation. They underestimate just how far I'm willing to go to protect her.