Inked Memories.

The sunset hues would take Hoseok back to those afternoons he dreaded recalling, though a cup of green tea would make those memories somewhat bearable.

They were red, harrowing events of bloodshed tainting his past, granted to him unsolicited, and his hands were heavy with the crimes he was trained and paid to commit.

Hoseok spent the last few years running away from the person he was forced to become, although he felt it following him as his shadow.

Fortunately, escaping from his life by going on walks with his boys was a temporary antidote to his poisonous past.

He sat on the bench, keeping his eyes on Jungkook and Taehyung.

Watching them skylarking unabashedly as if they had never had their childhood stolen, delighted his parched senses of tranquility and humanity.

They reminded him that his present need not be in constant echo of his past actions.

"Hyung!" Jungkook loudly called out. "I'm terrified of how calm you are despite Min Yoongi's betrayal!" He was walking closer to him with Taehyung in tow. Then they sat down, one on his left and the other on his right.

"Yeah, you made me write that letter to Laira, knowing that we don't have her friend in our possession anymore," Taehyung added. "Because you weren't going to free Chloe anyway, right? You're just trying to lure Laira here."

"I wasn't going to let our hostage go even if Laira showed up, that's right," Hoseok felt some heaviness lifted from his shoulders when he confessed the truth. "I don't think Laira deserves my generosity after what she did to both of you. You treated her as your own, and she would've killed you that night hadn't you stopped her first."

Taehyung nodded with his jaws clenched. "That's right."

"Along with Laira, you also want Jimin here," Jungkook concluded. "You know he will come after seeing that letter. You know him well, just as well as he knows you. But hyung, you never told us how. How do you know each other?" Jungkook questioned.

Hoseok almost felt his throat tightening with what was left of the overwhelming years from his past. "It's quite a lengthy story."

"We have all the time in the world until Jimin and his men show up, that is if your plan works. Taehyung nonchalantly stated, tucking his long locks behind his ear.

Hoseok felt his lips form a smirk. "It will work, especially given the threat you wrote in that letter."

Jungkook chuckled. "That was funny. Tae wrote about delivering her corpse while I was pulling my hair out trying to find her living body," and then he sighed, "I should've known Min Yoongi was onto something."

"What do you plan to do when Jimin demands to see Chloe? You certainly cannot hope to keep him in the dark. You know how he is. He will see through you. And we cannot corner him or tie him to a chair, not even with our team. He's a lot more than we can handle, and he will bring his men too as a bonus, so-"

"No, Tae. I'm not planning to capture him, but we will surely put up a fight. I have everything planned."

Jungkook scanned him with his big eyes. "We trust you. But can we go back to you and Jimin now?"

"I'll keep it short then," he announced. "I was 5 when my parents sold me and my younger sister, Yuri, to child traffickers."

He felt their stares burn the sides of his face at the mention of his sister, but they stayed quiet, so he continued.

"They kept us for 3 years and then sold us for an even better price to a bouncer named Osamu, a Japanese man who worked in a small bar in Busan. I was 8 at that time and my sister was 6."

"You were just a kid," Jungkook murmured as if the air was knocked out of his lungs.

Hoseok continued, "I worked in the bar, waiting tables and cleaning plates while Yuri stayed home. Osamu wasn't as hard to be around as the other people were because he was intoxicated all the time, except working hours, so I can say he was nice-"

"I don't believe you at all when you describe someone as nice," Taehyung mumbled in accusation.

Hoseok grinned in agreement. "By the time I turned 14, I was known by everyone who frequented the bar, dangerous gang members and drug dealers. I was getting adapted to that new life, which seemed a lot better than being locked up. But Osamu decided to return to his home country after he got diagnosed with liver cancer, and I was sent to an orphanage."

"That's how you came to us," Jungkook recalled. "You told us your parents abandoned you and that's how you ended up at the orphanage, but what about your sister? You never told us you have a sister. Where is she now?"

Hoseok had to swallow the sudden emotions threatening to surge past his throat. He had to remind himself that he was speaking to the boys he called his family, and they deserved to know his past.

"Osamu's landlord was an old woman who insisted on keeping Yuri with her, and I was not in the position to make a decision, but that place was better for her anyway. After I came to the orphanage, I kept my connections with all the people I knew from the bar and managed to gain a position in their world to earn money for myself and Yuri.

"And for us," Taehyung added. "You changed everything after you met us, hyung."

Hoseok couldn't help the sad smile his lips formed. "Yeah. Fortunately or unfortunately, I was taken to a gang named Lancehead Vipers, who paid me a good amount for cleaning their 'lair.' They just wanted someone who could do their job and keep their mouth shut, and I fit the role perfectly."

"You would never tell us where you worked," Jungkook recalled. He was biting his lower lip, a sign that he was anxious, but Hoseok couldn't find it in himself to comfort the younger guy because it was just the beginning of the bad part.

"Kyung-jae was their leader, a man with a broken moral compass, who accepted me with open arms, and showed me how to survive in their world." Hoseok let out a bitter laugh. "And his son, Park Jimin, became my companion in learning those lessons."

"You've known Park Jimin for as long as you've known us?" Taehyung scrunched his brows together. "You never mentioned him to us, not even once."

"No, I didn't- not his name- but I did tell you about the kid who used to bring kimchi-jjigae or galbitang to share with me."

"That was him?" Jungkook scoffed, or laughed? Hoseok couldn't pay attention to him as his fingers tingled with anxiety and his ears throbbed. It had been years since he thought or talked about those memories.

Those were the days when he thought life couldn't get any better. Jimin was the kid who showed him what happiness was. He would make Hoseok laugh with his silly chatter, always gossiping about the 'dorky' kids in school with his small nose scrunched and brows furrowed in distaste.

Hoseok was amused by the tantrums tiny Jimin would throw after receiving lectures from his father. Jimin was a combination of many colors and emotions in a single person, which Hoseok found astonishing for a little kid.

He was also impressively entertaining. Once he started talking, Hoseok could not make him stop, not that he wanted to anyway.

With Jimin, cleaning the furniture was a battle to see who could clean the most, and mopping the floor was a race to see who was faster. Those were Hoseok's tasks, for which he was being paid, but Jimin being Jimin wouldn't sit still and let him do all that alone.

Hoseok was sure he learned his kindness from his mother, as she would always prepare extra lunch for Jimin so he could share it with Hoseok. The only thing that Jimin couldn't make better for Hoseok was those lessons they had to take together.

Kyung-jae was hellbent on transforming them into weapons, and he had his ruthless techniques and twisted reasons for everything. And once Hoseok turned 15, he was promoted to keeping tabs on the Vipers' debtors, under the wing of a member of the gang.

He was made to go as far as lodging a bullet in their skull when their time was due. Thinking about that made Hoseok feel sick. But according to Kyung-jae, 'leeches deserved to die.'

"Yes. That was Jimin." Hoseok confirmed Jungkook's question after the elongated silence. He considered stopping the talk as the memories overwhelmed him, but he pushed himself to continue. "Yeah, I- I used to work for Kyung-jae, Jimin's dad. Things weren't great, but I was adapting. I learned how to live and how to kill. It started with cleaning but then I was roped into his gang business and Kyung-jae never allowed me to leave."

"He threatened you?"

Hoseok nodded. "He knew about Yuri and threatened me that if I tried to leave or spill his secrets to anyone he would- that he would kill her."

"How dare he! That pathetic man." Jungkook's eyes bore into his. "But he didn't, right? Hyung? Yuri. Tell me he didn't-"

"No. He didn't. But-" Hoseok felt like he was running out of oxygen. "Years later, after I turned 19, Jimin and I had a plan- we, we were-"

"Hyung, it's okay." Hoseok felt Taehyung's hand running down his back. His vision was mildly blurry now, probably due to the lack of oxygen or the lack of brightness in the sky. "You don't have to continue, maybe some other day."

Hoseok realized he was heaving. After taking full breaths, he stood up and let out a chuckle in amusement, or maybe in embarrassment. "Sorry, I wasn't planning to get choked up like that."

"Yeah, not like you were talking about your trauma or anything," Jungkook said jokingly, contributing to lighten the mood.

Hoseok sighed dramatically when Taehyung gave him a concerned look. "Trauma- yeah, I guess. And that was the story. Our plan didn't work. We fell apart, Jimin and I. We have equal reasons to hate each other. And Yuri- well, she's not here anymore." He started walking away without explaining further and, thankfully, Taehyung and Jungkook didn't question anything either.

They followed him inside the center, loudly discussing that if they were witches they could turn Jimin into a chicken and avoid battling him.

*

"What the heck, Chloe?" Min Yoongi roared like a thundering cloud. "What do you mean you don't know?"

She took a step back as he seemed hellishly devoted to storming into her. "Dagger," she let out. His face broke in confusion. "You promised to hand me a dagger, Min Yoongi."

The confusion on his face morphed into disbelief as he barked a laugh. "You dare ask me to keep my promise after you lied to me? Dagger-" He grinned. "Sure, I will give you that darn dagger, but you think it could save you?"

She tightened her jaws but reached further to accept the dagger that he removed from his wet boot and then she slowly backed away. He kept his gaze on her, scanning her with a blank expression.

"What are you doing? Attack me."

Yoongi narrowed his eyes. "Why? Do you want me to go absolutely feral on you?"

"Isn't that what you should do?"

"Depends. Why did you lie to me? Did you really think a single blade could save you after betraying me?"

"I didn't betray you." She pointed the dagger at him. "Didn't lie either."

He narrowed his eyes again, this time letting out a big exhale. "Explain yourself. I'm running out of patience."

"I don't know where Master Jimin's house is." She frowned. "I've told you and Hoseok that multiple times by now." Yoongi raised his brow, urging her to continue. "But I do know someone who would know the address," she added smiling.

Yoongi gave her a death glare and then combed his finger in his hair. "Darn you, lady. You are lucky I didn't murder you right away. Seriously, what were you thinking provoking me like that, huh?"

Chloe's face broke out in a grin. "I could've held my own."

She heard him mutter something about "stupid new generation," before he walked closer to her, still brushing back his wet hair.

"I'm one hundred percent sure that my trainer, Namjoon, knows where Master Jimin lives, but we cannot go near him. He must be with Master Jimin right now."

Yoongi glared at her again, impatiently tapping his foot.

Chloe huffed dramatically. "Learn to be patient, Mr. Saviour. I was getting to the point in a minute anyway." She flicked her wet ponytail behind her shoulder and took her time wiping the water off her face.

When she raised her gaze to check on him, he was standing there with his arms folded on his chest, bleakly unimpressed.

"Okay, fine." She chuckled. "Elijah, the leader of Master Jimin's protection team."

Yoongi bit his check. "Where do we find this Elijah?"

"I know he is not with Master Jimin right now because Kim Seokjin, The sniper, was called on duty a while ago. That only happens when Elijah has to leave his position for whatever reason. We won't have to travel far. He lives in Kyoto."

"You better be right," is all he said before he started walking away, gesturing for her to follow with a nod of his head.

AN: I keep coming back to write the next chapters, lol. After plotting this story in my head and my notes for so long, I really want to make it readable and edible as soon as possible. Well, let's see how long I can keep updating without going MIA for at least a month.

Thanks for reading!