reef knot

fifteen

i sincerely hope y'all survived the gif :D

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December 24, 2016, 11 p.m.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Yoongi asks me for the twelfth time as we follow after the policeman into the woods.

I nod simply, like I did every single time he asked me that same question. The more he asks, the more I feel like backing out of the body identification process - but I feel compelled to see my father's dead body for myself.

Maybe it's because I won't believe it until I see it.

I hold onto Yoongi's hand tightly as we hike through the thick shrubbery. Somehow, holding hands while walking became a habit of Yoongi and I. Whenever his fingers intertwine with mine, it's as if he were trying to say, "I'll keep you safe."

Like an unspoken language between the both of us.

Jimin briefly glances at our entangled hands, but chooses not to comment.

After around ten minutes of hiking, we finally arrive at the crime scene in the middle of the woods. Police tape has been fenced around the area, and the cop holds it upwards for us to pass through.

At the center of the clearing, the soil has been overturned to form a rectangular trench that must have been at least three meters deep. And there, in the middle of the trench, lay my father, his originally crisp suit now crumpled and bloody. His head is bent at an unnatural angle, probably the reason why his eyes and mouth are gaping wide open.

The moment I see him, I instantly lose all the self-control I've been building up for the past hour.

"DAD!" I burst into tears, diving into the trench as I rush towards his corpse.

"Miss-" Yoongi starts to stop me, but Jimin places a hand on his shoulder, signalling for my bodyguard to leave me alone.

I get down on my knees, bending over to place my head on Dad's chest as I cry. "Dad," I sob softly, my tears staining his suit. "Dad, get up," I choke out, repeating the same line over and over again.

I hear Yoongi and Jimin climb into the trench after me, their footsteps cautious, as if they're afraid of triggering me further.

"Cracked skull," Yoongi mutters to Jimin, immediately identifying the cause of death.

"Maybe it's from the fall," Jimin tries to reason, pointing towards the bloody rock lying underneath Dad's head.

I shake my head, climbing up from Dad's chest into a sitting position as I look up at my brother. "Dad didn't fall, he's been murdered!" I sob. "This is the exact same forest that Jung Minho held me captive in! Who else could it be?!"

Jimin nods to pacify me, though his expression remains unconvinced. He helps me up from the ground, pulling me into his arms as a form of comfort.

"What's that?" Yoongi suddenly asks, gaze lingering on Dad's chest. Jimin and I turn to match his line of sight as the green-haired boy gets down on one knee in front of Dad's body.

Unbuttoning my father's suit, Yoongi peels the cloth off slightly to reveal two words that have been written on Dad's skin with Dad's own blood.

Merry Christmas.

***

It's already past midnight by the time we decide to head back home. None of us speak during the ride, all caught up in our own thoughts. Though my tears have stopped, Yoongi and Jimin still view me as unstable, and hence my brother makes Yoongi sit with me in the backseat while he takes the wheel.