𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 | 𝔧𝔞𝔢𝔶𝔬𝔫𝔤

|nineteen|

in·sane
/inˈsān/
adjective
1.
in a state of mind which prevents normal perception, behavior, or social interaction; seriously mentally ill.
=

taeyong never envisioned his life to be like this. when he was younger, he always thought he would be married, his partner and children by his side. in a modest home that wasn't too far away from the small surgical practice he owned, not particularly fulfilled but stable, safe.

"who the hell are you and why are you following me?" taeyong shouts, shoving the thin body against the tough red brick, his knife pressed to their throats.

"long time no see, boy toy." the familiar voice rings his taeyong's ears, sending a shiver down his spine.

taeyong swore mina was rotting in some ditch, it was almost like she had been asking for it with her actions. never in a million years did he ever think he would ever see her again, let alone have a knife pressed to her throat after months without hearing anything about her.

"if you're here on jaehyun's behalf, i would suggest you leave, if
you don't want me to gut you, tell him to kindly fuck off if you don't mind, of course. i've killed every single person he's sent to kidnap me again so far, leave me the fuck alone." taeyong scoffs, the knife pressed tightly in his hand.

"i'm here on my own behalf, jaehyun can choke for all i care. i have a proposition, one that i want to extend without a knife pressed to my throat, possibly over a drink?" mina coughs out, her shoulder blades digging into the tough brick.

"not interested, get out of my sight." taeyong spits out, pulling the knife away from her throat, backing up.

"well taeyong, it looks like your alternative is far less attractive than what i have to offer. you going to keep running? don't you want to be able stand tall, be in your power, to not be in fear, to not run anymore. still not interested?" mina stands straight, dusting off her leather jacket.

"why the fuck should i trust you?" taeyong growls lowly, not backing down for a second.

"i'm not asking you to trust me, i'm asking you to hear me out. was the knife really necessary, you fucking cut me, ass." mina scoffs, wiping the small droplets of blood from her pale neck.

"one drink, i choose the place and if you betray me, i swear to god mina, i'll love finish you off and this time for good." taeyong spits, slipping the knife back into its his small black backpack.

"when the hell did you get so agressive, jesus, anyway, lead the way, boytoy." mina chuckles, gesturing him to lead the way.

=

the cold whiskey tasted ordinarily bitter, the anxiety in the pit of taeyong's rose as the ice in mina's glass spun with the twirl of her hand.

"i stole a ton of cocaine and i want you to be my business partner. you're the only person with access to all of jaehyun's brain, he's taught you everything. you know routes, buyers, sellers, crooked cops, you know everything inside out." mina blurts out nonchalantly, as if she were talking about the weather.

"are you fucking insane? you want me to help you traffic a ton of cocaine, not to mention it's stolen? that's practically a death sentence and if it isn't blatantly obvious mina, i want to get the fuck away from this sick mafia and go back to my old life." taeyong hisses, eyes widening with her words.

"you can't go back to your old life, taeyong. trust me, i've tried. this is our life now, so get the fuck used to it. and to survive in this world, you need power. do you want to keep getting your life decided by jaehyun or any other higher up that decides they want you?

that's been me my whole life, taeyong. you can think or believe whatever you want or what others told you. since jaehyun found jaemin and i, he was the prize. but me? i got dragged around by him, to be passed around by higher ups. and i could never say no, because in my head, i owed jaehyun from saving jeno and i.

it wasn't my intention to fall for jeno, i assume that everyone told you. that i betrayed my own brother. jeno was the first person to ever treat me like i was something more than entertainment or a pretty view. and i fell, and i did things i should've never done and that i wish with all my being i could take back.

the same with yuta, he made me feel like i was more than an object, that i was bold and strong. we aren't that different, taeyong. love clouds our vision, makes us do things we would never think we do. and you know, it's true.

it isn't ideal, taeyong. it really isn't, but we can either take control of our own lives or keep letting other people push us around. you don't have to keep running, we can establish ourselves, we can ever be bigger than kim baem and jaehyun.

i know we got off on the wrong foot but i had to see if my instincts were right, and they were. i've been looking for the one person i want to share this fortune with for years. but none of them could even come close to your sharpness and your intuition. you're the one i want to do this with.

not for power over others but for power over ourselves and our future. it's time we stop being treated like toys. you and i, taeyong, we are lethal. i don't think you understand your own power, you could dominate all of korea, the world if you play your cards right. the choice is yours." mina explains, igniting a fire that's been brewing in taeyong for months.

taeyong was done, he could no longer withstand the idea of everyone in his life but him, writing his destiny. it's as if he's been suffocating, the walls of everyone's decisions closing in on him.

he never imagined himself in a cheap, dimly lit bar, trying to decide if he should risk his life for the opportunity to live his freely. taeyong trembled at the thought of looking at himself in the mirror and seeing someone confident and established looking back at him.

"i can't." he thought.

"and why the hell not?" his thoughts replied.

he couldn't find a valid excuse, to why he shouldn't. of course, ignoring possible death, imprisonment, literal torture, and maybe the possibility that this could go much worse.

"one question." taeyong clears his throat loudly.

"ask away." mina nods openly.

"how the hell are we going to pull this off?" taeyong smirks, extending his hand toward mina's glittered tips.