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A guide to accidental murder and cover up 101

"Because then I'll have to kill you." He whispered in that scary, serious voice of his. You knew by now that he was probably just joking again.

"Can you not joke about killing me all the time?" You rolled your eyes.

"Who said I was joking?"

Pairing: Uni Student! Reader x Hwang Hyunjin

Word count: 4k

Genre: Crime, mafia au, eventual romance, Rom-com (I hope)

Warnings: Attempted sexual assault although nothing graphic, unintentional murder, general blood and gore descriptions, minor character death, criminal activities

Summary: You didn't think you'll become a murderer on a particularly slow night at the convenience store while trying to complete your uni essay that was due tomorrow. And you definitely didn't think an angel of a man would help you clean up the crime scene out of nowhere. Did people this kind really still exist in the world? Spoiler alert: Of course not. Because the reason he's helping you goes far deeper than the kindness of his heart.

This story takes place in the same universe as "A guide to being kidnapped and escaping 101" but with a different reader. I suggest you can read that too if these kind of stories are your type. But both can be read as standalones too.

You were in deep.

Like a million feet deep in a dark, cold ocean. That's why you felt like you couldn't breathe at all. That's why water was leaking from your eyes like a never ending waterfall. That's why you couldn't see anything past the salty tears and everything was blurry, you didn't know if it was your eyes or the world. You hoped for the latter but felt it would be the former, and it was.

It was an accident. A mistake. You didn't mean to do it. No, you wouldn't have ever done something like this even in your dreams much less in real life. You had just murdered someone.

It had all happened so quickly, you didn't have time to process anything. One minute you were trying to type your essay on playwriting and dramaturgy that was due tomorrow on your phone on a particularly slow night in the convenience store, the next you were getting the man jelly beans from the third aisle that apparently his daughter loved and the next minute he was pushing you into the wall, trying to take your clothes off. You panicked. As one does...you think? No one ever taught how to deal with a situation like this in school. You wanted to mock Mrs Lee now who had told you maths would help you in every situation, sure it will. You just flailed your hands, took the can opener from the desk and stabbed it into his neck.

It was a sight you never wanted to see again. Blood spurting from his throat, him choking on his own blood and trying to say something you couldn't make out even if you tried. He struggled for two minutes you think, for you it felt like two decades. You had never seen this much blood. Ever. And finally, he fell back on the floor knocking the milk cartons. Great now you'll have to arrange those again. What the fuck? Were you thinking about milk cartons right now? Really? Yeah you were.

You knew it'll take you some time for you to process this, start crying properly and think rationally. Till then you had to clean this puddle of blood. The metallic smell was slowly starting to take over you senses. You felt so dizzy. Taking a bottle of bleach and scrubs from the fifth aisle you started scrubbing the blood before it dries, or atleast tried to.

You totally did not forgot to turn the open sign on the door to closed and someone totally wasn't standing in front of you looking at you trying to clean a murder scene, your mind tried to convince you.

You looked up to see probably the most beautiful man to walk on this earth. His eyes were a bit wide but definitely not wide enough for someone who was looking at a crime scene for the first time. Shit he was a police officer or detective, wasn't he?

"Uh, hi... Can I help you?" You mentally facepalmed for asking this question in such a situation.

"Looks like you need more help than me right now." He stated simply. He walked towards you and plucked out a chocolate bar from the stand beside you. "That bleach you're using won't remove the stains completely. Do you have any oxygen producing detergents here?" He asked while unwrapping the chocolate.

He seemed causal about this. Too causal. Like he just walked in his friend's get together party instead of a place where there was a crime scene. You know you should be alarmed as to why he isn't alarmed or maybe why does he have this knowledge but you think you're not in the position to be asking questions right now. Maybe he's a medical student or something? That's plausible.

When you just looked at him without saying anything, he understood that you didn't understand anything he said. "Do you have any detergents like vanish or something around here?" He asked in simpler language, now taking a bite from the chocolate. You nodded standing up to get it.

He was looking around like he was searching for something so you asked "Do you need anything?"

"Nah. Just looking for security cameras." He answered while going to the door and turning the sign to "closed" and closing the blinds.

"We don't have those here." You said.

"Is that so?" He asked squinting at the mirror behind the cashier's desk, your desk. He touched his finger on the mirror and looked behind it. You didn't know what he was doing so you turned to scrubbing the stains again. By now the bleeding from the man's neck had almost stopped and the puddle had gotten bigger.

"Gotcha." He whistled. Just as you were about to ask what did he get, he took the paperweight from the desk and smashed it in the mirror.

"Are you fucking insane!?" You exclaimed. Did he just break Mr Choi's favourite mirror? Yes he did. Did he just double the mess you'll have to clean up now? Yes he fucking did.

"Might be." He took out a little circular chip with a beeping red light on it. The red light died slowly as he crushed it under the weight of his long fingers "Who's the owner of this store? Jaehyun Choi right?" He asked.

"Jaewon Choi." You corrected.

"Yeah, yeah. Same thing. That man is a bastard. How did you even believe he didn't put a camera here" He chuckled without any humor. What was his deal? "Anyways, who are you?"

"Why? Are you gonna go to the police?" You sincerely asked. You were worried but honestly you wouldn't mind if you got arrested. You knew you had done something very terrible and you were tired of scrubbing. You were really sleep deprived and you had to finish your theatre assignment that was due tomorrow. Prison didn't seem like a particularly bad option right now.

He chuckled again "Honey, if I wanted to go to the police I would've done that by now don't you think?"

"I guess so." You shrugged. Thinking that things were already bad and couldn't get any worse than this, you decided to answer his question. "I'm a student in the uni nearby. I've been working here for about 3 months part time to uh... pay rent."

He hummed. "What major are you?"

"Theatre."

"Funny. I've got a friend there too." He shrugged opening the locked drawers with a freaking paperclip of all things...wait what was he opening the drawers Mr Choi has specifically told you to not touch? He was. And then he took out some papers out, folded them and put them in his winter coat's pocket. You had given up on trying to make sense of whatever he was doing or whatever was happening.

"Are...are you a medical student or something?" He laughed at that. Like actually laughed out loud.

"Do I look like a medical student?" He genuinely asked.

"I don't know, I mean that's why you know so much about...detergents right?" You look at him expectantly to confirm your theory but when he doesn't say anything and just looks at you like you've got devil horns on your head which who knows maybe you did it's not like you just killed someone right? You know you're a bit too far off from the reality. "You aren't a student then, are you?" You ask again searching for any answer as to who was this kind man that stumbled upon you and was now pretty much helping you clean up a fucking murder scene.

"Nope." He answers biting his lower lip like he's trying to hide his smile. Now that you look, his lips are really pretty. Just an observation.

"So wait...wait are you like a serial killer that actually knows how to cover up crime scenes and you aren't phased by this body and blood here-" you gesture to the puddle of blood there "because you're used to it and now you're going to kill me, oh my god, are you going to kill me? Can you just do it already because if I clean all this up and then you kill me it wouldn't be of any use. Like first of all, there would be blood all over here again. Secondly, my efforts would be rendered useless like why am I even cleaning this up if I'm just gonna die and thirdly, how awful and kinda ironic it would be that I covered up a murder only to get murdered myself after that." You gasp for breath after the long rant you'd just finished.

"Actually no, there wouldn't be blood all over here again. Who says you need to make a mess of blood to kill someone?" You looked at him in horror and he laughed again. "I'm kidding. Don't you think I would've already murdered you by now if I wanted to?" He grinned looking you in the eyes.

"I guess so. So you aren't...a murderer right?" You questioned again just to confirm.

"Not exactly." He smirked.

"So then...who are you?"

"Is it really that important to know? C'mon let's help you get rid of this body now." He stated as casually as if he was telling a weather forecast. You stand there in shock. Not being able to comprehend how this saint of a man had stumbled in your life at the best possible moment. "Hey don't just stand there. I'm strong sure but not enough to carry this man all by myself. Give me a hand will you?" He gestured for you to help him carry the man. Oh right.

"Where do we have to carry him though?" You question stumbling on your feet while holding the disgusting and now dead man's hands while the stranger held him by the ankles and walked backwards until he reached the door and pushed it open with his back.

"Oh just till that car." He gestured with his eyes to a freaking Tesla of all things.

"Um who's car is that?" You ask dumbfounded.

"Well you already have a crime on your record, wouldn't wanna add grand theft auto too. So it's mine for the night. Don't worry your pretty head too much about it, yeah?"

"Yours for the night? So like it isn't actually yours? What do you mean?" You ask stupidly. Like sure maybe interrogating such an angel like him who was essentially saving you from a life in prison wasn't a good move but you did not feel like yourself since the moment the can opener entered that man's throat.

"Jeez you ask a lot of questions don't you? It's a friend's." He sounded annoyed but still had a slight smile on his face. He opened the back seat door and you threw the man in there, quite literally at that. He then opened the door of the front seat and looked at you expectantly. "You coming or what?"

Well now it's not that you didn't learn about stranger danger in school like the rest of the human population. Problem is you had just killed someone, something not a lot of human population does. So it's not like you had a choice either. Because telling this fine gentleman to get rid of the body you murdered by himself wouldn't be very nice now would it? So you decided to go, also he had already said he would've murdered you by now if he wanted to. You also thought that he would've done the thing that the man tried to do with you by now if he wanted to and wouldn't be helping you. Although you still didn't understand why he was even helping you in the first place.

"Wait let me just lock the store." You ran to the store to get the keys not noticing him following you. Just as you took the keys from the cashier's desk and turned you saw him taking a bunch of snacks and food items from the shelves. He looked at you with both arms full and raised an eyebrow as to ask 'what'? "So, um are you gonna pay for this?" You ask. As much as you were in debt of this man, you couldn't afford to add two crimes in a night to your record. A murder charge was enough you didn't need an extra accomplice in robbery charge too.

"Seriously?" He rolled his eyes.

"I mean, you do know this a crime right?" Okay so maybe you were being stupid at the moment but can someone blame you? They try murdering a creepy man and see what happens to their critical thinking skills.

"Woah really? I never would've guessed!" He gasped dramatically. "Thank you so much for telling me, kind lady. How may I repay you?" He marveled with wide eyes while doing a dramatic bow making all the snacks he was carrying scrunch as they came in contact with his chest. His dark, slightly long hair fell into his eyes while he got back up and grinned at his own joke.

"Ok. That's enough. I'll just pay for you. I don't wanna account to Mr Choi for the missing snacks. Just let me get the total." You asked him while fishing for your purse in your pockets.

"You're a real funny one, you know that?" He laughed as though you had made a joke that you yourself were unaware about. "C'mon you don't need to pay. I'll explain in the car. It's going to be a long journey." He stated drawing out the o of long an obnoxious amount.

Thinking that you couldn't argue with this odd man you followed him out and locked the store.

"Open this up for me, will you?" He gestured towards the trunk which was strangely in the front of the car. You opened it up and he emptied his hands. "You know, this is called a frunk. Front and trunk get it? Isn't that neat?" He mentioned.

"Uh, yeah, Sure is." You awkwardly agreed and went to the front seat.

"Uh-uh sweetheart, stop right there" he exhorted. "Now what kind of gentleman would I be if I don't even open the door for you?" He walked towards you and opened the door.

"Uh thanks I guess?" You sat down almost hitting your head against the roof.

"You're welcome sweetheart." He winked and got in the driver's seat all the while whistling to himself. Was all this not even a bit weird to him? How did he even know what to do with a dead body of all things? All kinds of different questions were swarming in your head when he finally spoke after half an hour of driving or so. "Stop overthinking that much. You're gonna give yourself a headache." He said while chuckling.

"Are you speaking from experience?" You asked quietly still looking out of the window at the tall buildings which were now looking like little amber fireflies from this high up. You guessed you were near a mountain or something. You weren't sure though, neither did you care at this point.

"Maybe." He answered swerving the car effortlessly at the narrow route.

"So uh care to explain why you are trying to get me fired?" You finally questioned.

"I am trying to get you fired? Excuse me?" He said as if he was seriously offended.

"I mean you did steal a bunch of things and didn't even let me pay didn't you?"

"Oh honey, let me tell you something. You were fired the moment you killed that man." He whispered as if he was telling you a secret.

"Wha- what do you mean? You destroyed the camera right? I can just make up something about thieves breaking in and doing all that. There's no evidence so why would I get fired?" You questioned while panicking a bit. This job was one of the limited jobs that aligned with your uni schedule and you didn't had to work super hard for. All the other jobs in late night cafes and other stores were already taken up by other students. You don't think you'll be able to get another job as convenient after this one.

"You're so naive you know that? Your little owner has live footage of every single place he owns. I just destroyed the recorded one. Chances are he already knows about what you've done by now and is probably sending his men over. Especially after seeing me there. He must be losing his marbles after that." He snickered as if he made the funniest joke a homosapien could think of.

"I don't understand you for the most part but mainly you're saying the I'm fired right? And Mr Choi knows I'm a fucking murderer?"

"Essentially yeah." He agreed before continuing "But you're not really a murderer, right?"

"Um not right. I quite literally killed someone." You sniffled. Still determined to not cry until that body is no more. Even though you didn't think you even deserved to cry.

"So what? You just killed someone. That doesn't make you a murderer. A killer is someone who kills, whether by intent or not. A murderer is someone who kills with a motive in mind. You didn't mean to kill that guy, it just happened. Even though he definitely deserved it. If you knew even half the things that asshole has done, you wouldn't even care that you killed him."

"I doubt that." You rolled your eyes at him. How could he even think you wouldn't care after taking the life of someone? Sure he wasn't a good person. But now what about his daughter? What if she was still waiting for the jelly beans he was meant to get her? "I'm sure his daughter would care that I killed him." You whispered in a small voice, not trusting your voice right now.

"What daughter?" He asked as if he was genuinely confused. "He doesn't have a daughter. If he said that to you, he was lying."

Well now that was shocking. "Are- are you sure?"

"Do you seriously still doubt me?" He rolled his eyes with more force than necessary.

"Well then what about a wife? Or a significant other or something you know?" You just wanted to know that no one would be affected as much by his death. Maybe it was selfish for you to do so.

"I mean he does have a wife. But she runs an illegal organ trafficking business. So I wouldn't feel too bad for her if I were you."

Alright so this was more shocking. You were too stunned to speak. Who even were these people? And wait how did he know about all these? He wasn't involved in any organ trafficking businesses right? There was only one way to find out. "So not to offend you or anything but are you too, perhaps, I don't know... involved in such things?" Your question was full of hesitation and he probably knew that too from your tone.

"Yes. And I'm looking for the perfect moment to strike and take your eyes out with a can opener." He didn't crack a smile at that and looked dead serious, not even blinking and just looking straight at the dark road ahead. He looked so scary, for the first time that night.

"You should've just done that before I cleaned all that blood then." You said solemnly. Was this going to be the way you die? With your eyes scooped out with a can opener? On a pitch black, uninhabited mountain? You were on the verge of crying when he laughed again.

"You didn't think that I was actually being serious right?" His eyes crinkled into twin crescent moons, the same as the one you could see up in the inky sky from the side mirror of his car.

"Yeah I did actually." You whispered to yourself as he continued to laugh. "So you don't do that organ stuff right?" You asked again, just to be sure.

"God no! That's too grotesque even for us. We're more into strategic businesses if you know what I mean."

"I don't know what you mean." You replied. Who were 'us'? What even was a 'strategic business'? Did he work in finance or something? Probably not.

"It's okay. I'd rather not tell you."

"Why?" The question slipped your mouth before you had the chance to stop it.

"Because then I'll have to kill you." He whispered in that scary, serious voice of his. You knew by now that he was probably just joking again.

"Can you not joke about killing me all the time?" You rolled your eyes.

"Who said I was joking?" He looked at you instead of the road just as you felt the whole car vibrate staggeringly.

"What the fuck was that!?" You panicked.

"Uh just a big rock or something." He shrugged.

"Well then maybe can you pay attention to the road instead of staring at me creepily at random times!?" You shouted.

"Jeez calm down. I already knew we couldn't avoid the rock. It was too huge. So I just let it be. And it's called gazing alright, not 'creepily staring'."

He explained calmly while wrapping the hand at the back of your seat and driving with only one freaking hand. And he looked so relaxed too for some reason.

Oh okay so he was parking the car in between two huge trees. "We're here. Come on." You followed him out of the car and you could see a bright place up ahead. You could also hear the sound of fire crackling.

"Gosh I really don't wanna go near that asshole's feet again. They stink so bad." He gagged dramatically. His personality honestly gave you whiplash. You both reluctantly carried the man into the warehouse-like building which burned brighter than your future.

"Come on just leave him here." He threw the man on the cobblestone ground and started walking back to the car leaving you utterly confused. "You coming or what?" He looked back at you as he noticed you not following him.

"A- aren't we supposed to do anything?" You questioned while glancing between the body and him.

He sighed deeply and walked back to you. "Do you want to see that man's body burn in above a 1000 degree celsius?" He questioned you while grabbing both of your shoulders. You shook your head in a silent 'no'. "That's what I thought." He smiled at you again and walked you back towards the car with a hand wrapped around your shoulders.

"Won't the police know anything?" You questioned ten minutes into the drive.

"Not a chance sweetheart." He winked at you shifting his gaze from the road towards you for the umpteenth time that night while you looked out of the window at the dark trees with a blank stare.

"Won't Mr Choi report me to the police if he knows I killed someone?"

"Unless he's an absolute idiot, no he won't. Besides he doesn't even have any evidence against you. But trust me, he won't even go to the police in the first place. Just don't go around that store now for a few days, alright?"

"Are you sure his body will be gone?"

"Absolutely. Now that we're down the mountain, there are absolutely no traces of the crime you accidentally committed tonight." So that man really was gone huh? Because of you?

"Thank you." Your voice barely coming out.

"Why are you thanking me? I should be thanking you." He chuckled. What?

"Uh what?" Your throat hurt from how hoarse your voice was.

"I mean, you did kill my target for me so thanks I guess. Although I would've gotten the job done far more cleanly. Obviously. We wouldn't even need to go all the way up there. Just one touch and he would've gotten a heart attack then and there. But it's fine I don't blame you, it was your first kill after all!" He exclaimed as if that was a good news. "So now... my place or yours?"

The news didn't even phase you anymore. You looked at the neon digital clock in the car as it showed 4:27 a.m. in block letters. You definitely wouldn't be able to make it to uni today. You hadn't even completed your essay on playwriting and dramaturgy that was due today. And finally you burst into tears for the second time that night.

"My place it is then." 

A/N: If you've made it this far, thanks a lot for reading. Any kind of feedback and comments are much much appreciated!

A guide to being kidnapped and escaping 101

Prologue

Chapter 1

"I know you tried to move. Otherwise there would've been no marks." He looked at you accusingly as if you were the one who commited a crime or were covered in blood.

Pairing: afab! Psychologist! Reader x Bang Chan

Word Count: 1.6k

Genre: Crime, mafia au, eventual romance, slow burn, comedy (an attempt was made)

Warnings: kidnapping (not with malicious intent), use of injection(s), mentions of blood although nothing graphic, criminal activities of course.

Summary: You are a fairly renowned psychologist and therapist but definitely not renowned enough to be getting kidnapped in the middle of the night. Is it one of your past patients with a criminal record? You don't know what the kidnapper wants but you have a feeling you are about to find out.

This story takes place in the same universe as "A guide to accidental murder and cover up 101" but with a different reader. I suggest you can read that too if these kind of stories are your type. But both can be read as standalones too.

Completing Mrs Kim's therapy sessions, check. Because God knows that woman would rather chew glass than talk about her mommy issues and inferiority complex. Being promoted to senior therapist, check. Getting another new pet, check. Being kidnapped from your home, check. Okay so being kidnapped was definitely not on your this year's bingo card.

It's not everyday a bunch of well built men approach your apartment in the middle of the night, inject a needle into your veins, and take you in an expensive looking car with tinted windows. You feel yourself going limp and your mind filling with cloudy haze. Yeah you'd much rather have another therapy session with Mrs Kim than feeling like this, you think to yourself before loosing consciousness completely.

You wake up after God knows how many hours or possibly days? That thought scares you, you hadn't even submitted a leave of absence. What if they fired you? No they wouldn't fire you right? You were one of the top therapists in the country. There was no way they would fire you just after promoting you. And more importantly, what about your pets?

You look around you, observing your surroundings. The room looks like a 5 star suite room. You look down to see silk bed sheets wrapped around you. When you attempt to move you find that your movements are restricted. Your hands are free though, so you remove the sheets from around your legs. Only to find that your feet are cuffed from the bedpost. Great. Just fucking great. You jerk your legs in an attempt to unlock them but it's of no use whatsoever except making some noise.

Should you scream? What if the people who kidnapped you are psychopaths or sociopaths and it sets them off? It certainly won't be your first time dealing with psychopaths or sociopaths. But you needed to be very careful if you wanted some answers and didn't want to die.

"Hello?" You say. Your voice barely above a whisper because your throat feels so fucking hoarse. Just how dehydrated were you? You cough a bit to try to regain your voice. "Hello?" You repeat again. A little louder this time. "Is anyone there?" You almost scream now. Still no answer. You'll have to say something that they couldn't ignore now. You just hoped someone would be on the other side of the giant door. "I'm sorry but I really really need to go to the washroom. I'm not kidding." What the fuck? Did they just brought you here to leave you in a bed and go on with their days? You wished they would talk to you at least once so you could grasp what kind of people they were and what to say and not say to them. "EXCUSE ME?" You shout with all the voice you're left with now and then cough violently afterwards.

Suddenly the door opens by a man dressed in all black with a mask on his face, but his eyes are directed downwards and he isn't coming in. You see the reason mere seconds later. When a man with really well built body enters. His eyes as cold as the cuffs on your feet. He's wearing a white shirt with black harness belts over it. Who wears stuff like this? But that's definitely not the most concerning thing about him. It's the way his white shirt is splashed with blood. And not just one kind of blood. Different shades of blood. So are his black gloves and wrists.

You have worked with people who have been diagnosed with violent behavioural disorders and have seen your fair share of blood in your years long career as a psychologist. But never in this much quantity. And definitely never in this situation where you're tied to a goddamm bed. This was pretty fucking scary.

"Oh hello." He said like he was surprised that you were here, as if he wasn't the one who kidnapped you in the first place. "Did you need something?" He asked politely as if he was some underpaid staff at the local convenience store.

Deciding to not test the waters right now you just uttered one word. "Washroom."

"Oh right." He held out a hand towards the man who had opened the door in the first place and the man placed a a tiny key in his hand. He then walked towards you and opened the lock of the cuffs in one swift motion. It took you longer than this to open the lock of your door. That means he is pretty skilled at what he does. Which is scary because you suppose he murders people. Or animals? What if he is just a butcher? No but he kidnapped someone, the someone being you, he is definitely involved in criminal activities. He frowned when he noticed the red marks on your ankles. As if! Did he not know this would happen? He also seemed fairly experienced in whatever it was that he did considering the number of men working for him, you assumed. "You shouldn't have done that." He stated.

"Huh?" You questioned, too busy analysing his every move. Who knew for how much time they would leave you here again.

"I know you tried to move. Otherwise there would've been no marks." He looked at you accusingly as if you were the one who commited a crime or were covered in blood. This man needed to get his priorities straight.

"Can I go now?" You asked. It felt so weird after asking for permission to go to the fucking washroom after telling people what to do for years as a therapist.

"Uh yeah. It's that black door on your left." He gestured to said door. You stumbled to walk and heard him talking to the other man near the door. "Why did you fucking cuff her?" He sounded a bit angry.

"Because you told us to Boss!" The other man exclaimed while looking pretty shaken up.

"Yeah well I didn't-" he cut himself off and looked at you watching them while standing near the door. Fuck. You rushed inside quickly, afraid of what will happen now that he heard you eavesdropping on their conversation. Even though technically they were talking right in front of you.

You used the washroom not knowing when will be the next time you'll get to get out of the bed you were chained to. You go out and see the man who was not the "boss" standing next to the bed. Trying really hard to unlock the cuffs from the bedpost.

"I- uh sorry I'm kind of an intern here so-" he was clearly struggling to get the key out of keyhole now. Did he get it stuck there? "So- um I wanted to apologise for the inconvenience caused to you on my behalf. Boss ordere- uh asked me to apologize. Did that sound too formal? Sorry I used to work in retail before this if you couldn't already tell." You could.

"Let me see this." You go up to the lock as the man makes way for you. "I think you pretty much broke one of the latches in the locking pad." You observed. You had some experience with broken locks from that time you had your first internship in an asylum.

"Well then I'll go prepare for my funeral. In the meantime you can wait here. Someone will be here soon enough with some food for you." He sighed in despair and walked away. Not even bothering to close the door. Yeah he definitely was an intern.

Well then you might as well observe this place right? Right. You approach the giant door with slow and light steps. Not knowing what you could see on the other side. You look out to see dark hallways on all three sides with multiple doors in them. They are dimly lit from the sunlight that's passing through the huge windows on each end of the walls. You can see greenery. Maybe there's a garden somewhere.

Now... you were a psychologist but no psych vol. 6 book ever had notes about how to escape from a supposed mansion after being kidnapped by God knows who and for what. So you decided to throw caution out of the window and run out. Future you will just have to deal with whatever happens.

Confused between whether to go right, left or center, you decide to follow your instincts and go center. You run as fast as you can, which isn't actually fast because you had long ago decided that you would never have to run. Your job was to sit in a room with someone and talk to them. Why would you need to run? Yeah right. You hear footsteps following you behind so you look behind you just to find... no one? Running while looking in the opposite direction was definitely not a good idea. Because you just know you ran into someone you weren't supposed to run into.

You look up from the well built and hard chest your face had collided into, only to see the "boss" looking at you with an expression you couldn't identify. He was unusually cold yet held a soft look in his eyes. Very contradicting. Thankfully he had changed his blood stained shirt for a plain black one, although he still had those bloody gloves on. You can feel him staining your t-shirt as his big hands grip onto your shoulders from when you had lost your balance while faceplanting into his chest. And you really wish he hadn't held you and let you go so the ground could swallow you whole.

"Going somewhere doc?"

A/N: I wanted to make this longer as well as show their first proper conversation but I've been running low on motivation lately so I thought I should just post this first. Please let me know your thoughts on this, comments and reblogs are much appreciated!

A guide to falling in love with a traitor while being a mafia leader

Preview

Pairing: afab! Mafia leader! Reader x Yang Jeongin ft. slight Bang Chan x Reader

Word count: --

Genre: Mafia au, romance

Warnings: General criminal activities (but even then it's not much), mentions of knives

Summary: -- (I mean it's in the title)

Yang Jeongin. Science prodigy. Passed high school at age 10 and graduated at 14. Could be seen in newspapers and tv shows in those 4 years freuqently. Winning international debates against some of the greatest minds arguably. And then, missing. One day at 15. Out of nowhere. The police carried out the investigation for 5 years until they had to drop it due to lack of evidence and progress. How he got into this fucked up underground world from a world of glory and fame that awaited him up there, no one knows. He was a genius. Someone you didn't see often in the field of work you're in.

You see him working with test tubes and vials containing chemicals of different colours. The room itself is pretty dark with the only source of light being a small bulb that hangs above his head. You can even see some chemicals glowing. He's wearing transparent safety googles, a pair of expensive industrial ear muffs, black gloves and of course, his signature white lab coat. He looks concentrated on the task which was apparently mixing chemicals here and there. He suddenly stops before mixing two chemicals he had been working on since you came here and puts the tubes in the holder. Removing his muffs and ruffling his dark hair that had gotten messy due to them. And then you finally here his voice.

"Arsenic trioxide, 10ml to your right." He says in a voice that's much colder than even Chan's and gestures towards your right with his eyes. You see on your right and see a small vial with an injection on a pink vinyl player of all things.

"Right. Thanks." You reply taking both of the things and putting them in your dress pockets. When you don't leave and just stare at him expectantly, he raises his eyebrows in a silent 'what'.

"Can you get out now? I've got work to do."

"And you think I don't? I'm literally a-" he cuts you off, quite rudely at that.

"Do I look like I give a fuck, sweetheart?"

Chapter 1

me rnnnnnnnnn noooooo but also this was the best breakup scene ever written 🥺😭💕 💞

a thief's origin✨ || bts • kth - chapter 1.3

"you're afraid I won't wait." "I'm afraid you will."

a criminal and a doctor should be as different as the sun and the moon - but unexpected things happened every day. like him finding his safe haven in her.

© 2024 | eleni_cherie

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masterlist: here

— genre: thief au, gangster comedy, adventure, romcom, humour, angst, fluff, sexual tensiON, slowburn, mutual pining, strangers to friends to lovers s2f2l

ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE. CHARACTERS NOT NECESSARILY LIKE THE REAL PERSONS. ALSO VERY UNREALISTIC PLOT LOL - JUST PRETEND READING A MANGA/COMIC OR WATCHING A FILM, REALLY.

SUGGESTIVE THEMES. MENTIONS OF VIOLENCE & BLOOD (BUT NOTHING TOO GRAPHIC, IT'S STILL A COMEDY!)

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20th March

Barcelona, Spain

Having just finished a night shift, a long yawn escaped the young physician's mouth. Her rookies had almost messed up a patient's medication and she had been busy fixing it all night long.

After a torture of a ride, the metro being unusually stuffy, she headed down her street. It was still early, most people with normal work hours not leaving for another hour or two. The sun barely out. So the only other persons around were her and suppliers delivering stores.

Entering her apartment building, she fumbled out her keys, taking longer to find the right one in her sleep-deprived state. Only to almost drop them when realising her door was left ajar.

There was no way in hell she had left it like that, she always made sure to lock before leaving.

Her heart beat picked up as she slowly pushed it open. She couldn't hear anything. With her phone in her hands, ready to dial 091, she pushed the door open. Making sure it went all the way and touched the wall to ensure no one was standing behind it. And with careful steps she entered, closing it behind her slowly and repeating the same tactic with every other room.

Thankfully, there wasn't anyone. The apartment was empty - except for the pure chaos that was left behind.

Someone had definitely been there, looking through her belongings. Shelves were pulled out, objects were on the ground. She was sure it must've been burglars until she realised that nothing was missing. Not that she had many objects of value. But the few she had, like her laptop and tv, were still there.

Leaving her relieved, but also puzzled.

Who the hell would break in, leave a mess but not take anything?

A headache was beginning to form at the thought of having to spend hours cleaning up now in her already exhausted state and she rubbed her temples.

With a sigh, she turned around. Deciding to not touch anything and try leaving again without altering the crime scene. First she'd report it to the police although she knew already they most likely wouldn't do much since nothing was stolen, but if she learned anything from her films it'd be to report it nevertheless. But as she was about to exit the apartment, a piece of paper stuck on the entrance door which she'd missed previously, caught her eye.

"Bring the golden figurine to the marina in Bangkok in 2 days if you want to see your pack of thieves again."

She instantly froze.

So this was related to Taehyung?

She reread the message.

That wasn't good, the situation was serious.

Her heart was racing while at the same time not beating at all. She felt nauseous but also on alert. Her mind screaming while being totally blank. More than anything else though, she felt helpless.

Her eyes wandered up to her ceiling. Whoever this was, they'd probably searched through her apartment for that figurine. She looked down at the piece of paper again and swallowed.

Bangkok marina, she repeated in her mind, in two days. She began agonizing and racking her brain to figure out how to find that figurine and get there in time. There was no way they were indeed expecting her to find it. They had to know she got no clue on how to. Perhaps they were even anticipating just that.

That was what she got for being a sucker for crime films and getting involved with thieves.

When the doorbell rang thirteen hours later in the evening, Cassandra hesitated to answer it.

Shoving the books she was currently organising into the shelve, she stood up and walked to the door with careful steps. She knew it was unlikely, yet she was still afraid it might be the intrudor returning for more. But much to her surprise, instead she found someone else on the other side when peeking through the spy hole.

There was indeed a man standing in front of her door. And another one.

"Hello, I hope you remember me. I'm -"

"Agent Jeon. I remember," she nodded when opening the door to the young interpol agent, "W-what do you want though? Taehyung isn't here."

He offered her an ambiguous, almost pitiful smile. "Oh, I know. May we come in?"

Her brows furrowed but she let them enter nonetheless. The other, unknown to her, agent facing her with a polite smile, offering his hand then which she accepted shyly. "Agent Jung, nice to meet you. Or well.." His gaze wandered and she caught a good sight of his side profile, his nose curving in a perfect angle when he abruptly turned back to her. And he scratched his neck awkwardly. "..as nice as can be expected under the circumstances."

"Y-yeah, nice to meet you," she blinked irrirated over the whole situation, her attention returning to Jungkook. "So why are you here?"

The younger man was standing in the middle of her living room. Seemingly dismissing the still light clutter as he looked around with impassiveness. "We know who did this."

Perplexed at his nonchalantness, she stopped in her tracks and stared at him. "H-how?"

Jungkook only motioned his chin to his colleague who gave her a nod. "I'm from organised crime," Hoseok explained, "My team identified the guy."

"No, I mean.. how did you know someone broke in?"

The two agents exchanged a quick glance, before offering her a suspiciously wide grin.

"That doesn't matter right now," Jungkook waved her off with a tattooed hand, "Instead, tell us if he found what he was looking for."

She bit the inside of her cheek and looked away. Uncertain whether it would help or if she'd only get the guys into more trouble by entrusting interpol with this.

"So.. so you know who did this?" she asked again out of insecurity and to buy some time.

"This guy was working for someone my team and I are after," Hoseok began then. Friendly expression changing as he suppressed his inner loathing when mentioning his team's target.

After one of the agents tasked with observing her, had seen that suspicious man entering and leaving her building, they'd immediately sent his photo to Jungkook who then sent it Hoseok's way. One of the female agents in his team had pretty quickly identified the intrudor as working under Via, a known underground business man - the fancy and legal cover-up for saying gangster boss - who frequented Korea quite often.

"We just couldn't figure out what his man wanted from you. We only figured it has something to do with Taehyung, which meant it had something to do with Jimin."

His dashing manner changed, however, when noticing her stressed expression at the mention of her boyfriend, despite her trying to downplay it. Giving Jungkook a look of appeal then and motioning to Cassandra. The agent of the robbery department sighed and nodded as he took a step towards her.

"We kept an eye on you ever since the questioning," Jungkook admitted, "That's how we know of this man."

Cassandra's head shot up, surprise crossing her features for a moment only to be replaced with epiphany.

Of course, it made sense. No surprise Taehyung had become so careful ever since. Her eyes narrowed then. "Why are you telling me this now?"

"I want to be open and honest with you, to show you that you can trust us." He gave her a smile, too sweet and cheerful for an interpol agent. She remembered, however, not to let the agents' friendly faces mislead her, remembering how she'd almost got fooled by it before.

He took another step towards her, cocking his head to the side in an innocent manner. "So? Are you gonna tell us now what he was looking for?"

She gave in and nodded. After all, she didn't have any other option so perhaps their presence was a blessing in disguise.

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22nd March

Bangkok, Thailand

"Told you we shouldn't have come in the first place." Jimin clicked his tongue at Taehyung's nonstop complaining. "Well, what else could we do? If we didn't show up at all, he'd have hunted us down," the dyed-blonde retorted, "You saw how obsessed that guy is with that figurine. Besides, it's not my fault that idiot opened the box too early. We would've got away with the fake one if that stooge didn't trigger the smoke-bomb before we could leave." Taehyung rolled his eyes. If they weren't tied up against each other on a chain on the ground right now, he'd have most definitely kicked his friend. 

Sure, it'd seemed easy first. Accepting the deal of that shady gangster boss Via of stealing the precious figurine of a female deity from the national museum in Bangkok. And then cheating him out of it by giving him a knock-off and keeping the money while eventually returning the figurine after a few months. But unexpected things always happened. Like one of Via's men re-opening the wooden box with the fake one before they'd managed leaving.

Yoongi, who had been quietly trying to medidate, sighed. Blinking an eye open. "Stop bickering you two, it doesn't matter anymore." He let his gaze wander around the locked room then. It'd have been a cakewalk to escape if they had their weapons at least, but of course not.

Taehyung wiggled his hands behind their backs in a pointless attempt to loosen the rope around their wrists. He hadn't expected those goons to be smart like that. Tying them up this way made them unable to even move much less stand up.

Footsteps were heard outside then and soon the doort opened. One of the goons standing in its frame.

"Move," he commended, all three looking at him funny.

"If we could move we'd be long gone, buddy," Jimin muttered only earning a grunt. He waved at another colleague and the two untied the rope holding them to the chain on the ground before pushing them out of the room and to the boatyard. Although used to such places, a queasy feeling still lingered in their guts as they entered.

Yoongi immediately spotted his katana stuffed among wooden boards in a barrel next to a scaffolding then. Almost scoffing in offence as they passed by it and some other yacht supplies.

He coughed under his breath then, catching the others' attention and motioning with his eyes to it. Taehyung and Jimin caught his exciting glance and nodded. The three, still tied to each other, came to a hold close to it. The two henchmen brushed past them then, leaving them stand there like lost children before heading to Via.

Their boss was currently walking up and down with a impatient expression. As if he was waiting for something.

Taking advantage of the unsupervised moment, they took slow and small steps towards the katana. Stopping whenever one of the men glanced at their direction, acting innocent.

They had almost reached it when the gate to the boatyard opened and Via let out a relieved laugh, the three standing too far away at the other end to really see what was going on. They only saw one of his gorillas walking up to him when noticing someone shorter tailing behind him. But despite the distance, they still recognised the other person. And all three froze.

"Cas," Taehyung breathed, not believing his eyes.

No way, this couldn't be.. but it was her.

His mind went blank only for him to raise his voice. "Cassandra! What are you doing here!" he yelled rashly, forgetting completely how irrational it was in that moment.

Jimin and Yoongi tensed and straightened, hoping the goons didn't notice what they had been attempting. And luckily they didn't, not paying much attention to them in the distance and dismissing Taehyung's reaction completely instead. As if they had already expected it.

His girlfriend only swallowed and folded her lips, ignoring his far-off cry and continued walking straight to the man who she knew was the leader. Recognising him from photos interpol had shown her.

"You're the one responsible here, right?" She rummaged in her bag before pulling out a shimmering object. "Here's what you wanted. Now let them go."

The thieves' eyes grew wide when seeing her holding up what looked like the figurine they had stolen a few days ago. Something impossible.

"It's a counterfeit, isn't it?" Taehyung whispered for only his friends to hear. There was no way she could've found the original one. It was securely shipped out to their hide-out in Algeria after all. Jimin hummed lowly. "Yeah, pretty sure." "Where's she got the fake one from though?" "No clue." "Hey, you! Be quiet!" The admonition of the bulky henchmen who walked up to them forced a grin out of them. "Of course, sorry!" Jimin quickly said only to stick out his tongue to him the moment he turned away. Peeking at Yoongi then who was trying grabbing his katana behind them, eventually succeeding.

None of the other people present seemed to pay attention to the scene as they observed Via at the other end of the area beginning walking towards Cassandra. Followed by two of his men.

"Nah, nah, not so fast, doll," the criminal grinned, "First I gotta ensure it's the real one this time."

Cassandra didn't show any hesitation and Taehyung forgot they were still tied up, attempting to run to her only to get pulled right back.

There was no way it was the real one. And the moment Via realised that, she'd be in danger. She was already in danger for even being there, but if the guy realised she gave him a fake, he might.. he might.. He began panicking, his mind going on overdrive.

"Taehyung, calm down," Yoongi urged him in a hushed tone when sensing his tremble and seeing his tense expression, "We have to stay clearheaded." "That's easy for you to say," he retorted, immediatelly regretting it. Yoongi was right after all, but Taehyung was terrified nonetheless. In his entire life he'd never felt more terrified than when seeing Cassandra walk in there. "S-sorry." "S'alright, I get it." "Hey, didn't I tell you to be quiet?" the henchman growled. He made the mistake to come closer, because Yoongi had managed cutting the rope w the katana's blade by now and freeing his wrists.

Not wasting any second, he grabbed its shaft and pulled it completely out of its sheath. Slicing the man's suit in half with one precise swing of his sword and a smirk, grabbing the ends and tying him up with his own clothes. He grabbed his gun out of its holster before cutting Taehyung's and Jimin's ties as well. The three quickly seeking cover behind a pile of masts right when everyone started shooting at them.

"I need my gun," Taehyung mumbled, looking around but unable to spot his magnum anywhere. He was sure it had to be around there along with the sword but he couldn't see it.

"Just take this one," Yoongi said and pressed the semi-automatic one he'd stolen from Via's man.

Taehyung cringed at the foreign weapon but accepted it nonetheless. After unlocking it, he leaned out. Immediately spotting two men nearing them and shot them down. Thankfully his skills didn't depend on the kind of gun.

"I'll go look for ours," Jimin said then, already sprinting to the back. Taehyung gave him cover by aiming at whoever shot their way while Yoongi dodged any bullets nearing them with his sword. Jimin returned after a couple of minutes already. His walter-ppk in one hand while twirling a familiar recolver around the index finger of his other.

"Look what I found," Jimin sing-songed with a smirk. Taehyung instantly grabbing his beloved magnum from him, huffing when seeing the barrel being empty though. "Seriously?" You forgot cartridges, idiot." Jimin remained unohased. Waving his hand only to skillfully reveal one cartridge between each of his fingers, resembling a magician playing a card trick. "Did I?" Taehyung laughed under his breath. Already used to his friend's attics, he just took them and pushed them inside the barrel. "I need to get Cas," he announced then, not even waiting for a response from the two before darting out.

He ran towards the front, piercing a barrel with his bullets on the way and spilling all its content on two goons. Drenching them in oil before taking cover again behind another container. He peeked out again, seeing Via shouting at his men to get them. The golden object securely held by his hand.

The young marksman let his irises wander behind the gangster, catching a glimpse of Cassandra behind an inverted boat.

Nine men between him and her. Not easy but he had to get to her no matter what.

One deep inhale and he ran out again, making sure to pass behind boats and other objects to dodge bullets shile shooting anyone who came into his peripheral view down. One by one, he hit their kneecaps, their shooting arms or let heavy objects fall on them until reaching the yacht and sliding behind it. Causing Cassandra to flinch only to relax again when seeing it was only him. Her bambi eyes wide and erratic.

"Taeh-" Before she could even say his name, he had already engulfed her in his arms. And she almost forgot where she was, melting into his hug. Only for him to back off, holding her by her arms.

"What the fck are you doint here!" It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"Doesn't matter now," she said only to jump into his arms at the sound of a bullet hitting the scaffolding above them.

"It does matter though," he mumbled right when he spotted a goon turning around the corner. His hand on her back tightening and he protectively turned her away before shooting at the guy.

But Cassandra didn't seem alarmed by that, instead she faced him again with determination in her eyes.

"I need your shooting skills," she said then and took his hand, tugging him at the edge of the boat. She peeked out, searching for Via and when she found him hurling with the figurine behind a container she pointed at him. "I need you to shoot that figurine in two."

Puzzled, his brows furrowed at her. "Why?" "Just do it, please." "It's a fake, isn't it." She snorted, "Obviously." "And where did you find it?" "Pops gave it to me," she said, matter-of-factly. Only to earn a bewildered look from Taehyung. "Pops? You mean interpol is here?" "Of course, you think I just came here all by my own?" she giggled before flinching once more when another bullet hit the yacht close to her. She composed herself again, looking at him with urgency. "That's why I need you to cut it in two. They couldn't come too close to the boatyard as Via's men were patrolling all around it and they couldn't wire me up since I got checked. That's why I was supposed to drop the figurine after finding you. But then this whole shooting started and.. and he just grabbed it out of my hands before I could. Inside is something like a panic button? I didn't entirely understand but when it's actuated they'll get the signal and come." She sighed, shaking her head. "I should've smashed it immediately but hesitated. It's my fault."

"Cas-" He got cut off by another bullet hitting the scaffolding. He drew closer to her, grabbing her shoulder. "None of this is your fault, got it?"

She swallowed and nodded.

Running a hand through his dark waves, he shook his head then. "Can't believe pops would let you get in this dangerous situation.." "It's not like he wanted to, but there wasn't many options," Cassandra quickly objected, "These goons came to my house, searching for that figurine while I was at work and since they couldn't find it, wanted me to bring it here. They knew who I was, so I had to be the one doing it." She paused to frown at him, adding with a huff, "And as you probably already know, interpol was observing my place and found out about this story."

Taehyung dismissed her side-blow to process her words. So Via really didn't hold back when saying he'd make sure to find what he was looking for. He even found out about her and assumed, as his girlfriend, she might be hiding it.

He held her gaze a moment longer before dragging out a breath. "Alright." Letting go of her, he switched places with her and tightened his fingers around the magnum. Glancing out to get a clear view of Via who attempted to crawl out of his stash towards the open gate from where more of his men had previously came in.

One shot and he hit it, the object bursting into pieces right between Via's hands. The gangster boss yelped in surprise, devastation running over his features when realising it was yet again another fake and not his beloved figurine. He almost looked like crying on the spot when one of his few remaining men dragged him away and behind another boat.

Taehyung sat back next to Cassandra when suddenly another thought crossed his mind. "Wait, you said interpol will show up? Now? How long will they take?"

Her eyes widened, realising what he was hinting to. "Less than two minutes, agent Kim said."

He cursed under his breath, peeking out before grabbing her hand and tucking her out. Both running behind containers and boats for cover while heading towards the back where Jimin and Yoongi had already injured and taken down most men. But a rope laying on the floor got tangled in Cassandra's feet and she tripped, falling on the ground. If she hadn't, a bullet would've hit her back. Now it only grazed her arm. It still burnt though and she winced lightly. Taehyung immediately located the shooter and let a sail drop on him by shooting on a mast, turning to Cassandra then who was holding her arm.

"Cas, are you alright?" he asked concerned and helped her stand. She only nodded. There wasn't any time to dwell over the burning now, so they continued running.

"Pops is coming!" he yelled as soon as his friends were in earshot and both looked at him perplexed.

"Pops?"

They followed them back to the storage where they'd been held captive, shooting at the gang members behind them before shutting the door and shoving any big objects they could find in front of it.

"Time to cut something useles again," Yoongi mumbled then and held his katana in front of him before slicing the walls and creating gateway for them. Just in time when hearing someone outside shout, "Cops!".

As they went through the hole to the backside of the boatyard, they cam face to face with the sea. The waves crashing right underneath them.

"Where to now?"

Jimin winked and pointed at one of the lined up yachts. "Perfect way to escape, isn't it?"

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"There's only one thing you love, Danny. That's danger. Cliff hanging. You could never love a woman like you love danger. And as long as your luck holds out, you'll stay in love with danger."

The quote from one of the old heist films they'd watched together long ago, emerged from his memory and kept repeating itself during the whole boat ride.

When eventually reaching a safe enough spot outside the city, Taehyung asked Jimin and Yoongi to wait for him on the shore. From his agitated expression they could tell he wanted to talk to Cassandra, so they hummed understandingly and got off the yacht.

Taehyung hesitated for a moment, licking over his dry lips before chewing pensively on his bottom lip. A million thoughts rushed through his mind and with a deep sigh, he finally pushed open the door to the cabin.

Cassandra had just finishing up bandaging herself with some make-shift gauze out of sheets and an antiseptic spray she'd found around.

When she saw him entering, he saw that lovely smile of hers spreading on her lips and the film quote began playing in his mind all over again.

Back then, he hadn't thought much about it. Not believing he could relate to it in the slightest.

He loved Cassandra. As pure and silly and deep as love could be. And yet, he couldn't let go of this life, this danger, not even for her. Not yet at least. But this didn't mean he'd allow her to be in its clutches as well.

"Cassandra.." Taehyung eventually spoke up only for his lips to press together into a straight line again. She noticed a deep crease set between his usually warm eyes, now filled with troubled thoughts and sorrow. "It's okay, don't worry," she assured and waved it off, instantly knowing what was going on behind those brown eyes. "No big de-"

However, the look on his eyes when he abruptly sat on the edge of the table in front of her, caused her to cut herself off. Even without saying anything, she unintentionally flinched. Feeling small under his rigid glare.

"Cassandra.." he pressed once again, causing her to quietly scoff and look away.

"It really isn't a big deal though," she mumbled like a defiant teenager and in any other situation her stubborness would've educed a smile or chuckle from him, but not this time. Eventually shaking his head in disapproval. "It is a big deal. You got hurt. Again. Because of me. Again." There was an edge in his tone. A rage. He was upset. Her sulky expression deepened, instantly feeling the need to calm him. "I'm clumsy. It wasn't because of you." "Of course it was." He was unable to control his anger anymore but his expression softened just as fast when looking at her afflicted eyes. "That's what I've tried warning you of." Her brows furrowed and she tilted her head away from his touch. A sad smile tucked on the corner of his lips as he looked at her adorably puzzled face. For someone as smart as her, she surely refused to use her brain in moments like this. "All these years back, that's what I meant when saying I'm no good."

The frown returned, finally understanding. "Not this again.." She attempted to stay up, but his hand grabbed her wrist firmly. Urging her to stay seated. "Right, this again." His voice returning to being stern. "Look," she sighed and her eyes fell briefly, "I'm not denying that it could've been risky. Even with interpol close by.." She wasn't necessarily surprised about his reaction. After all, it wasn't the first time she unvoluntarily got involved in his outlaw life. And this time it could've surely gone worse, she knew. But she'd never blame him for any of it. Especially not when he'd shot his way through countless armed men to get to her. "Could've been?" he repeated with an arched brow, tilting her chin towards him so she'd look him in the eyes, "Stop being stubborn and acting tough. I know you were scared. I know because I was."

Her jaw clenched. It was a poor attempt to keep these thoughts she tried suppressing, from emerging. She'd lie if saying she hadn't been scared at all. It was definitely an.. experience. Although it'd also be a lie if she said it wasn't thrilling at all, but only because she'd got out of it with a mere graze. If it was more severe she'd probably not find it so exciting anymore. A lump formed in her throat at the thought of that. 

"Yes, okay, fine, you're right. I was scared, a little bit." His grip loosened as he stared at her flustered face. It hadn't changed much since the night of their first encounter. Same mesmerisingly fierce eyes he had fallen in love with seven years ago. Her cheeks might be less chubby and the grey rings under her eyes deeper due to her work schedule, but nevertheless, still the same witty, beautiful and, at times like this, dewy-eyed woman he knew. "I'm so sorry, angel," he whispered, "Will you now stop refusing to see it?" Although he tried sounding serious and persuasive, his voice cracked. He felt outraged and ashamed, mostly with himself. And she glanced up, meeting his sad eyes before they fell to the space between them. 

Cassandra drew closer then, running her fingers through his raven waves and forcing him to heave his head to face her again. "Let me decide what's good for me and what not," she said softly, "I love you and I want to be with you. And some wannabe goons won't change that." His hand wandered up then, covering hers and lowering it into his lap. "I don't deserve this. I was so selfish all this time."

The car chase and shoot out, the embassy, the interpol interrogation and now this. He should've stayed away from her, from the beginning. He should've ignored whatever it was that kept pulling him towards her.

Had he really believed it wouldn't get worse with time? Had he really believe he could keep her away from it all?

"I thought.. I thought not telling you specifics was enough to keep you safe. But it only worked for interpol. I should've known the others.. the criminals we encounter.. it wouldn't have kept them away." He paused and screwed his eyes shut for a brief moment. "I let my feelings blind me."

With a shaky breath, she captured his face between her palms. Squishing it lightly as she searched for his eyes in the downcast air. "You tried back then, it's not that you didn't. But I never minded the risk and do what I want, I thought you knew as much about me."

With memories of the past hours flooding his mind, he cracked a weak smile.

The bubble. Once again he felt his bubble, the bubble of naive optimism and escapistic delusions, bursting. And this time she couldn't convince him otherwise. He wouldn't let her.

"I know you're stubborn," he pressed her hand, "And I know you're strong, much stronger than I could ever be because I'm weak, Cas, I'm weak when it comes to you. But since you're so stubborn, I've got to be the one stepping up for you now." "Tae, what.. what do you mean?" His hands wandered up the cool skin of her arms, holding onto them firmly with a sense of appell.

He'd have never guessed to ever say the following words to her, but there wasn't any other option left. Perhaps it wasn't even an act of selflessness. Perhaps it was pure selfishness again, the fact he'd rather choose a life than a world without her.

"We shouldn't see each other anymore."

Glass. Cassandra could swear hearing the piercing sound of glass breaking somewhere. Her eyes shot wide open. "Taehyung, don't even -" He ignored her warning tone, the grip around her arms tightening. "Be honest, Doc. Admit that it's the only plausible way." "If you want to break up with me, do it. But don't wait for my approval, I won't give it to you," she countered. The sudden soberness of her voice and her straight face taking him aback for a moment.

The silence that followed was deafening. Echoing in every corner of the cabin. Seconds passed with nothing but the ticking of the clock accompanying their racing pulses. They held each other's relentless gaze until eventually, Taehyung's lips parted.

"I'm breaking up with you, Cassandra."

Her heart left its place in the mediastinum, sinking heavy and bitter to the pits of her stomach. No warm blood was pumped through her veins anymore and her body began to freeze. She had bluffed after all, convinced he would, too. ".. you don't mean that. Right?" Irritation evident as she grew louder. "Tell me you're not actually breaking up with me over a minor injury." "Does that matter?" he simply argued, "The other time it was also minor. Next time it might not be anymore. What then, Cassandra?"

Her hands balled into fists as she stood up abruptly, his grip sliding from her.

"You're afraid I won't wait," she stated matter-of-factly. Trying swallowing down the tears which welled up in the corners of her eyes. She couldn't stay calm nor rational, she became frantic and desperate. "Just admit you don't believe I'd wait for you anymore after today." Taehyung was somewhat amused by her certainty over that conclusion even if it couldn't be further away from the turth. His expression full of adoration and rue as she managed to make him unexpectedly smile again. "I'm afraid you will." He got up to touch her cheek and she let him. "And I know you will, that's why I need to do this. You're the only thing that matters to me, the only thing worth anything in my life. No jewels, no artefacts, no antiques - only you. I just couldn't live with myself if anything ever happened to you." "Then what about this?" She pulled out the necklace with the tiger pedant from under her blouse, accidentally grabbing the heart locket out along with it. Both glimmering golden in the evening light seeking through the window. "Was that promise a lie?"

The ghost of a smile was on his lips. "Of course not. I meant it, every word. But I realised I might never be able to escape this life. And you shouldn't waste yours waiting for someone who might never be able to keep his promise."

The lump in her throat got harder, pressing the tears in the corner of her eyes to finally break loose. They rolled down her burning cheeks in big clear orbs. Taehyung let go of them to wrap his arms around her smaller frame instead. Embracing her tightly as she sobbed against his chest. It broke his heart all over again, the way she was shaking against him and fisting his shirt. She heaved her head with a pained smile then. "It wouldn't be wasted, cool guy."

He breathed out, wanting to object but couldn't. Her words soothed over his flushed skin as he cradled her more. Unable to contain the tremble in his own voice. "You're my only weakness, Cas. And as long as I'm in your life, there will be people who can take advantage of it."

His forehead brushed over her fluffy curls as he backed away. Wiping the unending tears with his thumbs before leaning down and pressing a kiss on her salty-tasting lips. The kiss was warm and soft. Making her forget her sorrow and halting the tears until the moment their lips parted again.

Cassandra knew that this hadn't been a consoling kiss or like any other one ever shared by them. She felt it in every fibre, every synapse. There was a lack of the usual happiness-inducing neurotransmitters, hormones and endorphines.

It was a goodbye kiss.

He meant it this time. She could tell by the determination in his eyes. His usually gentle features now hard. And she wasn't even attempting arguing this time. A tiny voice of reason which the rest of her emotions almost suffocated, knew that if it was the other way round, she'd have done the same. Still, she was unsure if she could really fathom what was happening in that moment.

With shaky hands, she reached behind her neck then and fiddled with the chain around it. "I should - I mean, you - your necklace." But Taehyung paused her with a chaste kiss on the forehead and lowered her arms. "Keep it. The promise was for you and you only. I don't intend to give it to anyone else."

The tiger-pedant had used to be a memento of his grandparents, but now it symbolised the part of his heart that would always be with her. It was hers now. It had always been. So he wanted her to keep it.

Cassandra watched him silently let go, however, only when she saw him head to the door, her lips found the will to move again.

"You're a good guy, Tae," she said, new tears threatening to bypass her eyes, "Don't forget that."

Pausing in his tracks, he swallowed his own tears down his dry throat. Not daring to move and meet her gaze, knowing the moment he'd see those lovely doe eyes any little strength left in him would be completely sucked out and he'd cave in, running back into her arms. He had to keep it together, he couldn't give in now. It was the right decision.

"I'll try."

And with that, he walked out of the door. And out of her life.

»»»

next chapter: epilogue very soon!

(make sure to check it out!! 👀it'll be a good one, i promise!)

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I drew the criminal. The only thoughts this man has is crime.

Much trial, much trauma, but crime is apparently great therapy.

@cubbihue He been drawn