Bodyguard | PJM

45. Ulterior Motives

"What is this Sparked Mafia you're on about? Is that a reference to a game or something that I don't know about?"

"Appa, you're joking, right?" I begin exasperatedly, eyes watering.

The look of absolute confusion on his face confirms my worries. I clear my throat, knowing that I have to be tactical from here on out. "Actually, the Sparked Mafia was this gang in a movie I watched, uh, The Demons Within." I gulp, the reasoning behind the lie burning down my throat.

He nods his head and smiles softly. "Oh, that makes sense now." He chuckles. "I was like, 'Sparked Mafia what the heck is that?', that's so funny!"

I nod and give him a tight smile. "Well, since you're here this late at night you should sleep in the guest room."

He nods. "Yes, thank you, Kyung Mi."

By the time I enter my room I collapse onto the floor and sob in the darkness.

They've got Appa. They messed with his mind and how he's not him anymore.

"Kyung Mi?" A soft voice asks. I look up to see Jimin's body move into a sitting position before he slowly walks over to open the light. He squints down at me and rubs his eyes before frantically checking his wrist.

"My watch...where is it?!"

"Oh, it's in the living room." I say with a whimper, and he falls down next to me.

"Why? What's going on? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I nod as I wipe away tears. He puts his hand on my shoulder and rubs it soothingly. "I think...I think the Sparked Mafia have brainwashed my dad. He came here in the middle of the night under the assumption that I was in danger and that your watch was one of the causes. He also didn't know who the Sparked Mafia were." I wail before covering my mouth with my hand and sobbing into it. "It's like my father isn't my father. He has no idea what's going on."

"They're so fucking manipulative." Jimin mutters harshly before snaking his arm around my shoulders. "I'm sorry, Kyung Mi. I don't know why you two are being targeted, but that's how it is because they're obviously plotting something."

"What do you mean? Aren't they after my father's wealth."

Jimin's shrill laugh course through my room, and for once the sound didn't soothe me. "Kyung Mi, don't you think that a group that can afford to train agents and target victims with high powered technology is poor? That those brilliant, terroristic minds haven't come up with a source of wealth yet?"

"I thought their source of wealth was targeting people..." I trail off, tears forming in my eyes again. Not only is this group targeting me and Appa but apparently they're also a mystery to me.

"Yes and no. Maybe I didn't explain them properly to you when I first became your bodyguard, but the Sparked Mafia are a rebellious group who have purpose in targeting people. They don't go around kidnapping and mugging people willy-nilly. They have specific reasons to going after specific people."

I leap up at that, pure terror coursing through me. "What the fuck you're telling me they want something else from us?" I try breathing heavily to match my racing heartrate, but all I can manage are shallow, unsatisfactory breaths. "An ulterior motive. We've been selected to be tortured. They're targeting us for something other than money. Fuck." I draw out the last word, bringing my palms to my face and willing myself not to cry again.

A whiff of fresh laundry. Arms wrapping around me as I'm pressed up against a warm chest. Then a voice. "I'm here for a reason, too," he whispers. "I won't let anything happen to you. Promise."