Chapter 52 - (4.8K Words)

"J-Jin..."

The gun fell from his hands and noisily clattered to the floor. You winced as the sound echoed down the hallway, which was completely silent otherwise. Jin took one heavy breath before finally giving up the fight and falling to his knees. Jungkook stared in horror at the man beside him, unsure of what to do.

He's going to die.

"Jin!" You tearfully shrieked, throwing yourself forward.

Before you could get very far, Junior wrapped his arms around your waist and forcefully pulled you backward. You fought, kicking and screaming against him, but it wasn't helping you any. Jungkook quickly looked up and realized that he was still in the middle of a battlefield, and he had enemies left.

Jungkook raised his gun and fired a few shots at Jaebum while making his escape down the hallway. Jaebum cursed at himself under his breath while dodging the bullets, then raised his gun and fired back. You watched as Jin slowly put his hands out in front of himself as he grew weaker and weaker with nobody paying him any attention.

Jungkook slowly inched towards the end of the hallway behind him, already trying to make a getaway. Jaebum aggressively stepped forward and followed after him, making it much easier for Jungkook to make his getaway. Jin's breaths became more and more shallow as Jaebum stepped around him to run after Jungkook.

"Junior, p-please," you begged, trying to tear his arms away from your waist. "I have to help him."

"There's nothing you can do," Junior fiercely whispered into your ear, pulling you farther away from the action. "Besides, we need to get out of here."

"Let me go!" You wildly kicked your legs and violently thrashed around in his arms, tears spilling down your cheeks as you watched Jin fold in on himself. His grip on you tightened as he struggled to contain you.

He audibly sighed and stopped fighting against you. His arms left your waist, and you practically fell forward. You looked up at him and gave him a questioning look, and he shook his head at you and turned over his shoulder.

"Just--do what you have to," Junior said, folding his arms over his chest. You gratefully nodded before stumbling over to Jin and dropping carelessly to your knees.

"Oh my god, Jin," you whispered, watching the blood drip from his shirt, which was completely soaked.

Jin rolled his head back and gave you a weak smile before wincing in pain. He gripped at his shirt, a trail of blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. He spat the rest of the blood out onto the floor beside himself just next to his gun.

"Let's get you leaned up against the wall," you frantically suggested, wanting desperately to get him out of the painful position. "It probably won't hurt as much."

He carefully nodded his head, squeezing his eyes shut and wiping the blood away from the corner of his mouth. You reached forward and gently placed your hand on top of his shoulder, causing him to flinch. You immediately jerked away, afraid that you were hurting him.

"Please," Jin begged, his voice low and raspy. "Just do it."

"I don't want to hurt you," you said, your voice cracking.

"Pain is temporary," Jin said, slowly trying to ease himself off of his palms. You lurched forward and put your hand on his shoulder to support him.

"P-Please stop, I'll help you," you begged, frantically positioning yourself over him so that you could help lean him against the wall.

Jin carefully nodded, and you delicately placed your hands on the inside of his shoulders. He eased his hands out from underneath him while you gently pushed him back up against the wall. Your hands didn't leave his shoulders until you were sure that he was leaning safely against the wall, his legs messily sprawled out in front of him.

"Thank you," he rasped, sending a cold chill running through your body.

"Don't thank me," you shook your head at him. "This is all my fault."

"I don't see how it is," Jin said, his breathing getting more and more shallow. "We're the ones who fired first."

"You're here because of me," you countered. "You wouldn't be here at all if it weren't for me."

"It's not your fault," Jin said, his voice getting somewhat stronger as he opened his eyes. "It's nobody's fault. Some things just happen."

"How are you okay with this?!" You wiped the tears from underneath your eyes and gave him a wide-eyed stare. "You're fuc--"

"Do not ever let such unpretty words stain your lips," Jin interrupted, pressing his index finger into your soft lips. "I know what's happening, and I can guess how it's going to end."

Don't say things like that.

You stared at him with wide eyes as he took his finger away from your lips. You shook your head at him, causing more tears to fall from your eyes and stream down your cheeks. Jin sighed and held his hand out to wipe the tears away.

"I want you to listen to me," Jin said, coaxing you closer to him. "I don't have much time left, and you need to know these things. You're going to have to make a big decision today. It's going to change your life, and I want you to be sure that you make the right choice."

"What are you talking about?" You asked, gazing up at him with interest. "What choice?"

"Just listen, no questions," Jin chided, his voice starting to fade. "These boys have been tearing you apart for almost a week now. I want you to decide who's worth your time, and who isn't."

"I don't know what you have to pick from," he continued before you could respond. "But I want you to be sure that you make the right choice."

You sharply nodded your head, trying to stop yourself from crying. Jin gave you a weak smile before pulling his hand away from your cheek. He reached down and gently placed his hand in yours, which shattered your heart. His breaths were getting more and more shallow with each second. You reassuringly squeezed his hand, trying to convince yourself more than anything.

"(Y/N), can I tell you something?" Jin asked, his voice cracking.

"You can tell me anything, Jin."

"You're the sweetest person I've ever met," he chuckled, his voice almost completely gone now. "I don't want to leave you here. I don't want to die."

I don't want you to either.

"Don't worry, Jin, I promise that I'll take care of myself," you said, lightly stroking the back of his hand with your thumb. "I won't let anything bad happen to me."

"Good," he breathed, giving you the biggest smile he could manage.

You were both silent. Jin's smile slowly faded. You focused on the quiet sound of his breathing and held his hand in yours. His hand went limp. You couldn't hear anything.

"J-Jin?"

Silence.

He's...gone.

Your entire body began to shake. You carefully set Jin's cold hand down beside him. You brought yourself to your feet while wiping the tears from your eyes. A streak of red came across your vision. You looked down at your hands, covered in blood that wasn't yours.

You looked down at Jin. He looked awful. His shirt was completely stained through with blood. The palms of his hands were covered in blood, too. You could see a hint of the once-angelic man hiding underneath the bruises and scrapes on his face. You felt a surge of anger run through you, and your blood began to boil.

You deserve better.

You angrily whipped your head from side to side, looking up and down the hallway. Junior was leaned up against the wall holding his chin, and Jaebum was nowhere in sight. You saw the tables lining the hallway and an idea instantly popped into your head.

You angrily walked over to the closest table and grabbed the lilies from the vase. Out of spite, you pushed the vase off the table and made your way over to the next table. You grabbed the flowers from the vase and gathered them in your hands along with the other lilies. As a second thought, you violently bumped into the table, sending the pot rolling over the side of the table.

You walked back over to Jin, trying to keep your bloody hands away from the white petals. You kneeled down in front of him, holding the flowers in one hand. You carefully placed the flowers in his hands and folded them across his stomach to hide some of the large blood stains on his shirt.

You stepped back and looked at him. H e looked so much more peaceful holding the flowers. You felt your anger dissipate. You felt a much different, sad and serene feeling come over you.

"White lilies were your favorite," you said, tilting your head to the side. "Right?"

At that moment, Jaebum came barreling around the corner, Jungkook nowhere in sight. As you looked up at him, you realized that something was genuinely bothering him, but you weren't sure what. He pushed past you, grabbing your wrist and pulling you along with him at the last possible second.

"Jaebum, what's wrong?" You worriedly asked, wiping your bloody hand on your shirt as he pulled you along. "What happened to Jungkook?"

"He got away," he said, his voice tense. "We have to get out of here before he brings reinforcements."

"They're going to be watching all of the exits," Junior said, jogging to catch up with you. "We can't just leave, not now. What did you have in mind?!"

"We're going to have to find a place to hide for just a little bit," Jaebum said, making a sharp turn to the left. "But right now, we need to get as far away from here as we can. Maybe we can hide in a room on another floor, but we have got to get away from here."

Junior nodded in agreement, and the boys were silent. Even though you knew that he hadn't been talking directly to you, you nodded too. You followed Jaebum, mainly because he wouldn't let go of you, down the maze of hallways until you came to a doorway that led out into a stairwell.

Jaebum held your hand as you both quietly descended the stairs with Junior leading the way. You couldn't help but notice how Jaebum kept sparing glances over his shoulders as if he expected someone to be following you.

It's okay to be a little paranoid, especially now, but this is too much.

"Jaebum?" You asked. He kept looking over his shoulder as if he hadn't heard you at all. "Jaebum?"

"Jaebum!"

"Sorry--what?" He asked, turning to you with wide eyes. He scanned your face, and you instantly felt taken aback by his reaction. "Is there something wrong, (Y/N)?"

"N-No. It's nothing, nothing important," You stuttered. Jaebum furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, Junior interrupted.

"How about here?" He asked, motioning to the door just beside him. "Now that we're a couple of floors down, this should be perfect, right?"

"Yes, this should be fine," Jaebum said, his eyes leaving yours. "Let's go ahead and find a place to hide before we get caught." Jaebum started slowly pulling you towards the door.

"It might be a good idea to let Mark and Yugyeom know that we're still in the building for a little while," Junior said, putting his finger up to his ear as you both walked past him onto the new floor. "I'm going to call them up and give them our location right now."

Without waiting for Junior to catch up with you, Jaebum started pulling you down the hallway again, looking for a room to hide in. You watched as the door to the stairwell got farther and farther away from you. While you weren't paying attention, Jaebum came to an abrupt stop, and you accidentally bumped into him from behind.

"Jaebum, what's--"

He turned on his heel and clamped his hand down over your mouth. For a moment, you fought back, but then you realized that something wasn't right. You could hear footsteps making their way down a nearby hallway. Quickly.

They're here.

You looked up at Jaebum, and Junior came running up behind you, his gun drawn. Jaebum quickly scanned the walls of the hallway, looking for a place to hide you.

"Promise me you won't move from this room no matter what," Jaebum said, frantically dragging you towards a door. "If you see anyone that's not us, shoot them. Junior and I will come and get you when it's safe. Okay?"

Jaebum hastily pushed you inside the large room, not giving you a chance to respond. He closed the door behind you, completely shrouding you in darkness. You held your hand out in front of yourself and felt around for the wall so that you could lean against it. Once you were securely up against the wall, you let your hand rest on your hip just beside the holster, ready to grab your gun if you needed it.

I can't hear anything. Is everything okay?!

You pressed your ear into the wall and tried to listen. It was like the entire floor was empty, even though Jaebum had brought you down here only seconds ago. There hadn't been enough time for them to get very far away, but it didn't sound like there was anyone nearby.

"Well, Princess, it's just you and me now."

Your entire body tensed. Without any hesitation, you pulled your gun from the holster. Heavy footsteps crept across the floor right towards where you were standing.

"You'd think that Jaebum wouldn't want you to leave his side, wouldn't you?" Namjoon chuckled, the tone of his voice unsettlingly deep. "He should at least make a note to himself to first check the rooms that he leaves you in."

You pressed yourself into the wall and tried to hide from him, but it was no use. His hands came to rest delicately on your hips, sending a harsh shiver crawling up your spine. Your grip tightened on the gun, and you tilted your head up to look him in the eyes.

"You seem tense, Princess," he whispered, sending another shiver crawling down your spine. "Is something wrong?"

"I thought you were dead," you murmured, shaking your head and trying to keep your voice from cracking. "I watched Jimin shoot you. I watched it happen."

"I'm still here, aren't I? Did you think that I would leave you in this hellhole?" One of his hands left your hips and motioned to the dark room around you. "Why do that when I could have you all to myself?"

"Why the hell am I so important to you?!" You cried, sending your voice echoing throughout the room. "You have your money--your job is over! Why can't you just leave me alone?!"

"I don't think you understand quite what you've done to me over the past few days," Namjoon said, his voice growing soft. "I'm not quite sure what you've done to me either, but I know that I like it. I never wanted to hurt you, and I'm sorry that I have. I might be going about this all the wrong way."

"N-Namjoon?" You whispered, the gun leaving your hand and clattering to the floor. "What are you talking about?"

"Ever since that first night, I felt different whenever I was around you," he said, his other hand finding its way back to your waist. "There was, there is something about you that has a calming effect on me. It confuses the hell out of me."

You were silent.

"I remember how you jumped in front of me because you wanted to save Mark and Yugyeom," he reminisced. "I remember how angry I was because I barely missed hitting you. But after that, when we got in the car together, you told me how you couldn't swim. You even gave me a cute little nickname."

"I was mad at myself because I couldn't protect you, not from Yoongi or Jimin," his voice became bitter. "I wonder why I even bothered giving Yoongi a second chance. I was only doing it to hurt you, and just because I felt hurt by you."

"When Jiyong started mouthing off to you, I wanted to hit him," he continued, angrily shaking his head. "I don't understand how you could keep so calm with him treating you like that. You're so pure and calm that it's unbelievable."

No. I'm not anything like that. Not anymore.

"And then, that night, when Jungkook and I were in your room..." Namjoon trailed off, leaving the room in silence.

"I finally realized what I felt for you," he slowly continued. "I didn't know how you felt, and I had no idea what you wanted. But when you asked me if it was a dream or not, I couldn't help myself. As long as you thought it was a dream, there wasn't a problem with it, was it?"

"I didn't want it to be a dream," you said sadly. You clamped your hand down over your mouth after you realized what you had just said. You looked up at Namjoon, who was looking down at you, a mixture of sadness and love in his eyes.

"I know you didn't hear me," Namjoon said, shaking his head. "I tried telling you again, but I couldn't bring myself to do that. It wouldn't have been right. I wanted to give you some time to make up your mind, but the next morning, I got so angry that I ended up hurting you."

"What did you want to tell me?" You asked, your voice barely audible.

"I think that deep down, you already know what I want to say," Namjoon sadly chuckled, taking your hand in his and giving you a comforting squeeze.

"(Y/N), I love--"

At that moment, the door to the room flew open, filling the room with light. Namjoon immediately pushed himself off of you and pulled a gun out of a holster hanging loosely around his hip. Jaebum vaulted into the room, his gun already drawn and trained on Namjoon.

"I can't even get a fucking minute alone with her?!" Namjoon growled, pointing his gun right at Jaebum. "I've been waiting almost two damn weeks to say one goddamn thing to her, and I can't even do that?!"

"You can say anything you want to right now," Junior spat, hurtling into the room just behind Jaebum. "We're all ears."

"Oh isn't that great?!" Namjoon yelled sarcastically. "Now both Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are here. Is there anyone else you'd like to invite to the fucking tea party? Perhaps the Hatter?"

Your heart was pounding in your chest as you looked at each of the boys. Their eyes were all dark and full of intensity as they stared each other down, waiting for someone to make a move. It was like they had completely forgotten that you were still in the room.

Somebody's going to get hurt. I have to do something.

Your gun was resting only a couple of inches away from your foot. You looked over at the door, which was still thrown wide open. So as not to startle them and cause more trouble, you carefully leaned down and picked the gun up. You sidled closer to the open doorway, hoping that one of the boys would notice you.

"Hey!" Jaebum bellowed, turning everyone's attention to you. "Where the hell do you think you're going?!"

Instead of answering, you bravely flashed him a coy smile and ran out the door. You ran down the hallway to the stairwell, all of the boys now lumbering after you. You pulled the door open and headed down the stairs, trying to distance yourself from them. The more that they were worried about you, the less likely that they were to kill each other.

"Well, would you look at what we've got here?!"

You looked up and realized that Jungkook and Hoseok were on the platform just below you. Hoseok was looking you up and down as if you were a prize-winning animal he was about to catch.

Shit.

You instantly turned on your heel and ran up the stairs, both of the boys hot on your tail and screaming like mad. You heard another door open up behind you, and you could hear the angry voices of Jaebum, Junior, and Namjoon now echoing through the stairwell as well.

Shit.

You flew up the stairs, determined to keep your lead over the boys that were only meters behind you. You knew that as soon as you stopped trying, something bad was going to happen. Another door opened just in front of you, and out stepped Jiyong and another, unfamiliar man.

Shit.

You quickly and gracefully slid past them, hoping that they might slow down the horde of boys that was ever-so-slowly gaining on you. As you rounded the corner and started running up the next flight of stairs, another door opened. You watched as Mark and Yugyeom stepped out and joined in once they realized what was going on.

Shit.

As soon as you reached the top of the flight, you realized that there weren't any more stairs for you to climb. You whipped your head from left to right, looking for a place, any place to go. There was only a single door at the very end of the long, dark hallway. You looked over your shoulder and realized that more people were following you than you thought had been.

Shit.

You ran full-speed at the door, using all of your might to throw it wide open. You gasped as you broke free into the cold air of the night. You somehow managed to slow to a stop just before you hit the stone wall that lined the edges of the building.

Seconds later, chaos ensued. You looked over your shoulder and realized that everyone from inside the building was now on the rooftop, fighting each other.

Jaebum was angrily firing at someone on the other side of the rooftop with blood splattered against his clothing. Junior was at his feet, clutching his shoulder with one hand and sloppily firing his gun with the other. Jackson was a couple feet away from them, trying to distract Hoseok from shooting at them.

Namjoon was hiding behind a large pipe and using it for cover. Every once in a while, he would get the courage to lean out and fire a few shots at either Jimin or Chaerin, who were both stationed on the other side of the roof.

Jiyong and the mystery man were back-to-back, only firing at people who fired at them first. Luckily, neither of them were badly hurt, but they seemed to be running out of ammo very quickly.

Mark and Yugyeom stood protectively in front of your aunt, their guns drawn in case anything went wrong. Your aunt was scanning the rooftop, watching all of the violence ensue with a small smile plastered on her face. If anything, she looked to be enjoying herself.

How did I let this happen?! How did this go so wrong?!

You looked at all of the people on the roof. Not a single person didn't have a gun in their hands, not even you. You looked down at the gun resting limply in your palm and felt your heart sink down into your stomach.

I can't fix this. They won't listen to me.

You looked down at the gun in your hand, and then up at the battlefield. Your grip on the gun tightened, and you took a deep breath as you realized what it was that you had to do.

Without a moment of hesitation, you stepped up onto the wall. You turned to face the battlefield and held the gun up over your head. With your free hand, you covered your ear so that the gunshots wouldn't be as loud.

One.

The battle raged on. You were completely ignored.

Two.

You earned a pair of eyes, but other than that, you were ignored again.

Three.

Two more people realized that something was amiss. They put their guns down at their side and looked up at you, too.

Four.

Almost all of the gunfire had stopped. Most people didn't realize what was going on until they looked at you.

Five.

Silence.

You closed your eyes, lowered your gun to your side, and took in the long moment of silence. You slowly opened your eyes and gazed down at all of the people on the rooftop, a feeling of disgust beginning to rise in the back of your throat.

"You people make me sick," you croaked. "All of you."

Silence.

"How long have I been here? Two weeks?" You asked, earning a couple of hesitant nods from the crowd. "Do you understand how much shit all of you have put me through? How much shit you're putting me through right now?"

Silence.

"I'm so fucking tired," you said, your voice cracking as you broke your promise to Jin. "You've all drained me of everything. And for what? For your goddamn money and power?"

Silence.

"I held Jin's hand when he gave his last breath," you said, your voice going faint as you thought about Jin, still holding the white lilies. "I've saved at least three of your lives, too. Is this how you want to repay me? By tearing me apart as I watch you kill each other?"

Silence.

"You told me that I was special, that I was important," you said, your voice instantly growing stronger. "Was that only because of the so-called price on my head? Or was it because of the title?"

Silence.

"That's what I thought," you said, slowly raising the gun up to your head. "You're all just a bunch of--"

"(Y/N), Princess, wait," Namjoon pleaded, immediately stepping forward once he realized what you were about to do. "You're worth more than money."

"Am I?" You asked, glaring right at him. "What about those two briefcases? Did you leave them out on the bridge, or did you take them back to the safehouse before you came chasing after us?"

Namjoon stepped back, hurt by your words.

"Listen to him, (Y/N), you're worth more than money," your aunt cooed, suddenly taking his side. "Just drop the gun, and let's all talk things out."

"As soon as I drop this gun, I lose control of the situation, and you know it," you spat at her, causing her to flinch. "You should be proud of me since the only reason I'm here is so that you could stay in power of your fucking company."

"(Y/N), that's not--"

"You paid my father to send me overseas and you claimed me as the heir to a company that I knew nothing about," you interrupted. "Please, try to tell me differently, I'd like to see what you can come up with."

Your aunt pursed her lips and lowered her gaze down to her feet. You looked around and waited for somebody else to say something.

"What do you want then?" Your aunt asked, keeping her eyes glued to her feet.

"What do you mean?" You asked, tilting your head.

"I want you to take the gun away from your head," your aunt said. "He wants you to take the gun away from your head, too. Don't you, Namjoon?"

"Y-yes, I do," he stuttered, fiercely nodding his head, as if to help prove his point. "Please."

"I want you to take the gun away from your head, too," Jiyong said, stepping forward and separating himself from the rest of the crowd.

You stared at the three people just in front of you, each with the same look in their eyes and the same expression on their face. Your aunt looked up at you and gave you a blank, solemn stare.

"We all want the same thing," she said, motioning to the boys standing on either side of her. "But the question is, what do you want in return?"

"What do I want?" You asked aloud.

This is what he was talking about.

"You can take your time, there's no rush," Namjoon said, holding his hand up as if to stop you from thinking. "I want you to make sure you're absolutely certain that you know what you want."

"There's no need," you said, drawing the gun away from your head and holstering it.

"I already know what I want."