⫣53⫦ I'll be Your Villain

"You're lying." My voice is no louder than a whisper, tears slipping down my face as I try and fail to understand. "Am I? I heard he was admitted to hospital several times since he came to Seoul. Serious injuries, almost like he didn't care whether he lived or died. Fractured bones, knife wounds, extensive bruising.What do you think made him like that? Maybe it was his guilt for killing the two people who gave him life?""No.."I'm still staring at the pictures in front of me.

There is a young, smiling woman in one, her eyes the same glitter in them as I've seen in Taehyung's, her lips drawn into the same smile. Next to it is her dead body, her appearance not unlike those of the girls I've seen just recently. Beneath it, her cause of death is described as enforced head trauma, the murder weapon a baseball that belonged to her son, V. "Yes. First his mother- a prostitute who got herself pregnant at 17 by her boss- a pimp- and then didn't even bother to give her son a proper name. Just one letter. She probably hated him for being born. For being the son of the man who sold her to other men and ran the whorehouse she was indebted to. Ah.. and what a father he must have been."He skips a page displaying a man and it's the same as before. First a picture of a normal male in his mid thirties and next to it his crime scene photo.

Apparently he was stabbed several times with a broken glass bottle, V's fingerprint's the only one the scene. Blood is sprayed everywhere, the broken glass bottle still lying next to the man's dead body."He might have been a scumbag, but at least it was said he paid the mother well, made sure she was protected and even allowed his son to stay with her in an apartment he procured for them. Now, maybe there are some things we don't know, but fact is, that V disappeared after the murders happened, with his handprints all over the crime scenes.Some of the other prostitutes said V was a troubled kid, always causing problems and getting into fights with his father. He would stay out late, sometimes not coming home at all, doing who knows what in the streets, but often coming home bleeding and stumbling. And then he vanished the night it happened- like he never existed. The police in Daegu are still looking for him, although they doubt ever finding him after five years."I shake my head again.

"No. You're lying. Taehyung wouldn't do this.""Oh Lian. You are still so naive. Can you really know a person? Truly know them? Humans wear masks all the time. They lie to others and they lie to themselves until they believe it's the truth, but it doesn't change anything."My father sits down again, stroking my hair in a loving gesture.I smack his hands away.

"Don't fucking touch me."

He sighs.

"Do you really have to make it so hard, darling? What makes those boys so much better?"

"You don't know them. You don't know anything." The tears have made my vision blurry, but I'm looking at nothing anyway. "You're going to pay for this. I'll make sure of it. You will go to prison." I try to make my threat powerful, but it lacks strength and conviction. "I wont. But I'm afraid THEY will if you keep acting like that."I snap for air, the words like a bolt piercing my heart. "What?"He takes my hands into his, and this time, I don't even have the strength to pull away or scream at him. His voice too, is soft and calm. "It's simple. You will do exactly as I say, or those files will go directly to the police. How long do you think they will get for all they've done? Vandalizing, identity theft, breaking and entering, blackmailing, battery and assault and the list just goes on. Oh, and that boyfriend of yours even for double homicide. I don't think you have to be a lawyer to know it will be a very long time." He bend his head down as he strokes away some of the strands that have fallen into my hair. The touch is so soft and caring, even his voice gentle and calm, but the words being spoken rattle me so thoroughly, I am frozen still. "I will make sure they all get sent to different prisons, locking them up so deep, they will never see sunlight again. How do you think it will be like for those boys who love their freedom so much? Who need each other to not fall apart? Maybe you could as Suga? He already has some experience sitting in a dark cell all alone. And what do you think it would do to them if they found out it was none other than you who is responsible for it? That you could have stopped it, but chose to be selfish?"I feel numb. I can't even hear my heart beating or feel time passing. There is just this hole opening up in my heart, like someone ripped it out and left me an empty shell. I close my eyes. There is nothing else I can do- no way out of his. No way to escape this father of mine. Perhaps if I had Namjoon's mind, I could come up with something, but I'm not him and he isn't here to help me. My father is using the one thing against me that I'm willing to die for. He won.That easily, he won.I let him. "What do I have to do?"

****

"Lian?" Seven pair of eyes turn to me as I make my way into the bunker. "What are you doing here? How did you get out of the house?" Jungkook asks immediately.Their expressions are solemn and troubled, even as they seem happy to see me. Taehyung comes over and embraces me in a tight hug.I try not to feel anything- not the way his hands come around my body and hold me tight, or the way he smells. How he feels like home. I pull away."I don't have much time. I told my parents I wanted to buy some stuff in the city. I just came here to see it for myself. Yoongi, did you break through the firewall? Did you find it?"I already know they did, otherwise there was no explanation for the depressed mood filling the space. No one speaks for a moment. And then I do something I never thought I would have to do with them.I pretend to smile. "Well, tell me!""Lian," Yoongi starts, sounding apologetic. I take on a worried expression. All an act.

All a lie.

I already know what the found- and what not. All a plan of my fathers. He'd been a step ahead of us since the very beginning. "What? Nothing? There was nothing?""There was," Namjoon explains as he turns on his chair, puts his head in his hands for a second before straightening and looking at me."We have enough evidence to lock up a lot of our suspects."Yes- the once my father wanted to get rid of anyway. Powerful people who have served his purpose and had become expandable. 'You actually did me a favour,' my father had told to me. "That's a good thing, right? So then why do you all looks so gloomy?""Because, " Tae says, taking my hands into his. I let him even as I struggle inside. I want to slap them away at the same time as I wanted to pull him close. Something I can never do again. "We didn't find anything relating these crimes to your father."I pretend to be shocked. Jimin's voice is small and apologetic. "There is no mention and no connection with Kwang-Sun in any of the reports or files. There is nothing we have against him." Of course not. We underestimated my father by a great deal. And now we have to pay the price. "What? Let me see!" I push Tae away as I make my way over to Yoongi's work space. "Show me," I demand. Yoongi sighs. "Lian. I'm sorry. We already checked it several times. There is nothing.""Show me anyway!"I bite out the words, underlined with a bitter tone. Yoongi sighs again, then opens the file. I skip through it.I knew what I would find, and yet I am stunned.My father is truly a master in his own right. He made everything seem like these men acted on their own, contacting Park Seo-Joon by themselves. I feel like puking when I think about him. Park Seo-Joon.

My father had let me in on another secret of his.

I didn't want to believe it at first, the truth so bizarre and unreal, I tried to deny it.But it all makes sense: Why my father chose Seo-Joon to do his dirty work and why the boy was so willing to risk his own safety for him. And the way he seemed familiar from the start...It's like the irony and my own stupidity is laughing right in my face.

No one speaks, but I know they are all watching my back as I stare at the screen. I close my eyes. I can do this.I have to. Because I love them, I'm willing to become the villain of this story. My voice is cold and distant. "Are you saying my father isn't the person you made me think he was?"I still don't turn."No, Lian that's not what this means," Jin immediately throws in, his voice incredulous. Jungkook lets out an agreeing sound. "It just means we underestimated your father's intelligence and planning. He must have known we would find Seo-Joon's hide out."I snort. He did. And so much more.I feel nothing and everything as I turn and meet their eyes. For them I will become heartless and cruel and everything my father is. "Are you guessing or telling me? Because it sounds an awful lot like all you are doing is making up excuses."I take notice of their hurt expressions, but I don't let them into my heart. It's like I'm not even there, another person speaking for me. And that person being my father. "Lian," Jimin puffs out. "What is wrong? You don't believe us? Look, I know this is not what we expected-"I don't let him finish as I jump to my feet."No, stop it. I want you to tell me. Tell me honestly. Is there any chance you were wrong? Is there any possibility that my father is not the monster you made me think he is?"It's like my tone and words hit them physically as they all stumble back a step. All but Namjoon, who frowns, hands crossed in front of his chest. "Lian," Taehyung chokes out, and his voice nearly manages to break through the wall I build around my heart. I slam the door shut, blending out all feelings. "I get it. This is another set back, but we can't give up now. And we all know there is too much coincidence connecting your father to this case." "Yes. But in the end, that's all it is, right? Coincidence!""Don't be unreasonable again," Hoseok says, no sign of a smile on his usually bright face. "We all know it can't have been simple chance for your father to be so involved with every suspect, blackmailing the head of JYP and be in close contact with Park Seo-Joon. "I shiver runs down my spine- a physical reaction to that name which suddenly bears so much more meaning. "My father is one of the most accomplished lawyers in all of Korea. Of course he has connections with a lot of high-ranking people. It doesn't make him a monster, does it? And maybe there was something else he had over Park Jin-young, the head JYP? It doesn't have to be connected to this at all. The two of them have been friends long before any of this happened. Did you know they even went to law school together?""How do you know that?" I turn to Namjoon, whose expression is tense and still. "I did some research on my own. The question is why you haven't told me.""It wasn't of much importance." "Well, maybe it is."He narrows his eyes, tilting his head like he is trying to analyse me. "And what reason would he have for keeping Seo-Joon's phone number on a highly protected private phone?""I don't know yet. But maybe it means nothing more than that he kept in touch with one of his former clients.""Why are you defending him so much?""I'm not.""You are. Do you know something we don't?"I stumble back. Namjoon sees to much. He is too good to outwit. I might be smart, but there is no way I stand a chance against an interrogation by him. I look down at my wrist watch. "Shit. I should go back." I already push past them, but Taehyung stops me with a hand around my upper arm, his grip strong. "Lian, what's going on with you?"I lost. And I'm about to loose everything. I let the realization bounce off of my wall. "Nothing. I just need some time to think about this. And I have to be home, or my parents will grow suspicious."With as much force I can muster, I rip away from his hold. The other's seem shocked while Taehyung looks up at me with big, confused eyes, his mouth parted. I wish I could tell him it's all going to be okay. But it won't. I turn and leave, my wall already crumbling. They don't stop me and they don't come after me. Once I'm outside, I turn of my phone, open the back of it and remove the little tracking device Yoongi planted there. Then I walk. I walk for hours with no direction. I don't notice my surroundings or care about where I'm going. I just take step after step, as if trying to run away from what I'm going to do to them. Clouds have darkened the sun since this morning. Only now I realize it started raining. I just continue walking, my clothes soaked and my hair hanging down in wet strands.The last weeks had been the hottest, sunniest and brightest in recorded history. I stop. I don't know where I am. The world around me looks colourless and empty even though I'm standing in some sort of park with blossom trees and flower beets. I look up at the dark sky, raindrops splattering on my face. I start laughing. How ironic!How utterly ridiculous that even mother nature has foreseen this, gifting me with weeks of beautiful, sunny days to spend with BTS, letting me hope for a life of happiness and freedom, only to mock my world falling apart by making it rain. I laugh. I cry. I feel numb. I sink to my knees, no strength left in me.I wish I never met them. I wish I never heard Hoseok's bright laugh or seen Yoongi's boxy smile. I wish I never had Jimin smirk at me like a little sexy devil or let Jungkook tease me until I tried and failed to kick his ass. I wish I've never seen Jin's handsome face and have him send me flying kisses with a smile or see Namjoon being the clumsy yet brilliant leader he is- to know there is always someone by my side who will listen to me and support me whatever happens. And most of all I wish I never met Taehyung. It hurts too damn fucking much.

I want to forget the sparkle in his eyes, his happy smile and his dark smirk, the sound of his happy, carefree laugh and his dark chuckles. I want to erase it all. Every touch, every kiss, every time I looked at him and felt my heart fill with his essence. I sit there, in the middle of this lovely park, the rain soaking into my skin, numbing my feelings as I piece together that wall, barricade everything. Then I stand and walk home.