Everybody Wants to Rule the World

30

Trigger Warning(s): none

Love on the Brain by Rihanna

~ Jimin's Point of View ~

10:54, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2028 (2 YEARS LATER). MOSCOW, RUSSIA.

"So, I'm sure your homecoming was nice," Charlisa snorted.

I had just returned from another visit to Anesa, and the emotional wear of it must have been apparent in my grim countenance. "Yeah. Super great." The lies, even though sarcastic, tasted bitter in my mouth, and I dragged my hand down my face. "God, I thought it couldn't get worse, but it always does."

"Eventually, we'll take her down. I don't know why they're drawing this out unnecessarily."

"It's not...unnecessary."

She raised an eyebrow at me, but I didn't reply. I was recently accepting missions from both the CIA and Anesa, since both saw it fit to use my skills and handy-dandy regeneration. And after completing a mission with Charlisa, we were sitting in a coffee shop located on a narrow street in Moscow. It looked nothing like the Busan coffee shop I had visited with Bong-Ju and Anesa, but it still reminded me of her and only made the pain worse.

Because she wasn't getting better. She was getting worse, and the decline in her mental state was affecting me as well. The voices that used to afflict me only occasionally were becoming a daily consistency. Even as I spoke to Charlisa, they whispered criticisms, insults, demands, and I just had to sit there and pretend none of it was happening. It was torture, and it was giving me the worst headache I had ever felt.

"There's always a chance she'll divert power to me if she gets worse enough," I tried to argue.

"That's not happening – remember the PDF I sent you about psychopaths?"

"Yeah, on a public email? Your stupidity baffles me."

"You're one to talk – remember Budapest?"

"God, will you stop bringing that up? In normal situations, I'm a great driver."

She snorted. "I'll believe it when I see it." One of the voices screamed a vulgar curse at me, and I winced, immediately drawing Charlisa's attention. "You okay?"

"Am I ever okay? I have to... God, I have to keep seeing Anesa after betraying her, and then I have to sleep with her to appease her, and that's not even to mention the missi–"

"What did you just say?"

I glanced up at her. "I said I have to keep seeing Anesa after betraying her."

"No, after that."

"Well, you know I've been sleeping with her."

"No, I didn't know that. Literally, why? She's a psychopath."

"A psychopath who thinks we're in a relationship, and if I refused her... well, let's just say it wouldn't go well."

"But you're sleeping with her."

I sighed and propped up my head with my hand, pressing my fingers into my forehead in an attempt to waylay the voices. "You wouldn't understand. It's not something I can control. And besides, it's not the worst thing in the world. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's pretty close... but it could be worse."

"To be clear, we're talking about sex?" The elderly couple sitting next to us whipped their heads around so fast it was almost comical. "What, are we middle schoolers?" she scowled, and the elders irritably averted their gazes.