The harrowing silence that followed his words was a small indication of how shocked the three of them were. Hoseok was the first to move, however, turning quickly on his heel and storming out of the garage. Jungkook jumped up after him and followed, leaving Jiah to pierce her eyes into Hoseok's offender.

"What? Why? Why would he want to do that?"

"Again, I don't know," he tilted his head at her, however, biting his bottom lip with a small smirk, "How's Ji Young by the way?"

She furrowed her eyebrows, okay so this man knows a lot more about her than she initially thought.

Heaving in a deep breath, she started speaking again. She had learnt the hard way that if she wanted to protect those who were dear to her, she couldn't go by her instincts, "Why? Why are you asking?"

She had hardly found herself in a situation where someone else had the upper hand on her; this was new.

"Oh nothing," he shook his head, the blood dripping from the top seeming to not phase him in the slightest, although it was really taking over his appearance, "He just doesn't seem to be getting on well with his peers, poor thing."

It was physically painful for her to restrain from standing up and kicking him in the stomach.

"What do you want from him? He's a high school kid, you asshole. He has nothing to do with us."

"You see, that's where you're wrong," grinning, he lifted his hand as much as he could with the cable ties holding him down, wiping the blood which was running down the side of his eyes, he continued, "he's your brother, there's no escaping us for him."

--

"What the fuck does he mean Kim Seokjin?" Jungkook was furious, the one man in their gang outside of their little group of three that he trusted was Hoseok's brother, and now that was all flushed down the drain.

"I-I don't know," Hoseok's voice was shaky, as he sat down on the couch, "Did he mean another Kim Seokjin? Someone who's not my brother?"

Jungkook sighed, frustrated, "Are you really going to try to convince yourself that?"

"No," he buried his face in his hands, not wanting Jungkook to see the tears seeping through his eyelids.

Jiah entered then, seeing the troubled image of her friend on the couch, she plonked herself next to Jungkook, laying a hand on his back and pushing him toward Hoseok. She knew she couldn't comfort somebody else, but Jungkook sure could.

Jungkook joined Hoseok on the couch and wrapped his arm over his shoulder, "Maybe it's not what we think," he said in a low voice, "Maybe he was mistaken."

Hoseok looked up from his hands, turning to Jungkook. This made him inhale a quick breath, for Hoseok's face was wet, eyelashes damp, cheeks rosy from the heat building up inside of him. He really looked broken.

"Mistaken? Where else would he have gotten that name?"

"Jungkook's right," Jiah inched in closer, "Don't go damming all hell on your brother, Hoseok, we can't just jump to conclusions."

"I would never..." he whispered, and Jiah instantly regretted what she had said.

That's right; he's not like me.

"What we know for sure was that it was Kkangpae," Jungkook said, "It being Seokjin, we don't know."

"Oh my God," Hoseok finally let out, muttering profanities under his breath that Jungkook and Jiah had never heard him say before, "Oh my God, I think I know why."

The two of them whipped their heads around to look at him, the addition of Jungkook lifting Hoseok's head with a finger under his chin.

"What?" they asked simultaneously.

He looked to them, worry filling his light brown orbs, "Please understand," his breathing hitched, "I can't tell you."

--

Jungkook and Jiah had tried and tried to get Hoseok to tell them what it was that he suspected was the reason behind the assault, but he wouldn't let a peep out.

Soon enough, Jiah watched the golden rays spill over the vibrant blue canvas of the night sky, calling for life and new beginnings. Their hideout was on the edge of a small hill and so through the window not only could see clearly see the way the sunlight hues illuminate the sky slowly, but she saw the copper shadows falling on the houses below, knocking on everyone's doors to wake up and start the day.

But for them, they just wanted it to end.

Jiah left for work, and Jungkook was to take the man from their garage - who they found out later went by the name Kalvin - back downtown. They weren't sure what else to do with him, every time Jiah saw his spiteful face, she thought back to how he was able to shatter her confidence and make her doubt her brother's safety with just a few words.

Before Jungkook let him go, however, he made sure to tell him one last thing.

"I know this will probably be your last thought," he hissed in his ear, "But if you find anything out about why Hoseok's brother ordered this, you better come find us before we find you."

--

Taehyung was surprised to see Jiah when he walked into the office that morning, putting a few folders onto her desk he furrowed his eyebrows.

"Didn't you get my text?" he asked first, scanning her eyes, "I said you could come in later today and get some rest."

She nodded. His text came almost right after she dropped him off, and she nearly decided to listen to him; it was so tempting just to sleep. But she had a feeling that even though he told her it was alright not to come into work on time, he was still going to be there early and would have compromised his own sleep.

And without thinking, she completely disregarded his text because of that.

"Did you have any work for me today?" she asked, bringing up his calendar on her computer. "Would you like me to brief you?"

He opened his mouth to say something but decided against it. Instead, he walked right into his office. And Jiah followed.

"You have a meeting with the Design team at twelve, a short follow up meeting with the Sports department at three and the Gucci marketing team is waiting for you to fax their contracts over to them by tonight."

Taehyung narrowed his gaze, looking deep into her eyes. The usual milk coffee that he would drink in was no longer there, and replacing them were shards of copper metal, haggard and tired.

"Did you get any sleep?" he breathed, taking a small step toward her. He didn't know what was making him do it, was it the guilt that filled him knowing he was the reason she was so tired? Was it Jimin's words from that morning, telling him that he should just go for it? Or was it those damn eyes, the ones that had been haunting him since the day he met her, begging him to make them his.

"Did you?" she surprised him by replying. Lately, they both noticed every time they exchanged any kind of conversation; it would come as a surprise to them both.

"M-My sleep," he coughed awkwardly, was he nervous? "isn't really all that important right now. Besides, I can get some sleep later on."

"Me too," she nodded, "Is there anything else?"

When he didn't answer, she turned to walk out of his office, but he stopped her, reaching out to grab her elbow.

The touch was electric, sparks entered her veins and ran through her whole body, setting her lungs into overdrive, her legs ready to collapse, but more significantly; her heart ablaze.

Just because he touched her?

The answer was no; that wasn't the only reason.

Taehyung felt himself wishing, hoping that there was another reason behind her concern. He prayed to every last God he could think of that the logic behind her storming eyes was because she cared more about him than she was letting out. That she, too, felt the magnetic pull - no, shove, heck the drag - that he felt when they were in the same vicinity of each other.

And Jiah caught herself feeling the fire starting up in the corner of her heart. The heart that had a metal cage surrounding it all these years. The heart that had cracked and torn down the past few weeks without her knowledge. The heart where Taehyung had set aflame and planted his own little seeds, waiting for flowers of every inch of his being to grow.

Lifting her gaze from the ground, she caught his eyes, his eyes that always made her think of dove features now reminded her of ashes and smoke blowing in the wind coming from a fire that burned everything to the ground. They were intense, coming from that fire that burned deep within his soul.

But the explanation for why this simple touch, the craving of Taehyung's heart, the unravelling of Jiah's heart, the intertwining of their own hearts, would be unknown to both of them.

--

"Is this really a good idea?" Jiah asked, looking at Taehyung from the backseat of the car. He wouldn't let her drive, but he needed her with him or else he would go crazy. He wasn't used to leaving the office during a workday without a secretary.

"Nothing else will wake me up like this," he looked to his watch, "We have three hours until my next meeting, and I really have no other tasks."

"We're here, sir," the driver looked to Taehyung from the rearview mirror, and Jiah looked outside, taking a full ten seconds to leave the car.

Taehyung threw her a questioning glance when she did so but didn't think much of it, instead didn't wait for her to step out.

Once he was staring at the entrance, a broad smile broke out on his face, and he breathed a sigh of satisfaction.

Jiah noticed the smile just the second it was gone from his face, and she couldn't help but long to see it again.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she scolded herself, confused as to why she had that thought in the first place.

Focus.

"You don't have to join me," he said as they walked through the entrance and inside, "I can show you to the-"

Jiah tapped on the receptionist table, "You really think I'm sitting this out?"

While her tone was lacking any emotion, Taehyung seemed to think she was teasing. And he liked it.

"Can I please have a helmet and some gear too."

"No, really, this is dangerous; it's not like normal driving," Taehyung was serious now, "It's okay; you really don't have to join."

"I said," her voice lowered, it was as if a switch was flipped and she needed this, "I'm not sitting this one out."

--

They were on the racing track, Taehyung's car right up next to Jiah's. Taehyung was a regular there and so had his own personalised go-kart, while Jiah used one of the company's go-karts, but she wasn't going to let that stop her.

The machine started counting down, and they both revved their engines, giving each other one last look, silver meeting brown, before turning back to the front and letting go of the break.

They both sped through the course, never leaving each other's tails. The second Taehyung's vehicle was slowing down in the slightest Jiah was right there to overtake, and right when Jiah's kart lost a bit of wind, Taehyung jumped in front.

It was overwhelming for both of them; honestly, Jiah never expected Taehyung to be able to keep up with her after all her years of experience in racing all types of vehicles, and Taehyung's thoughts were vice versa.

Right when they were nearing the finish line, Jiah's smile fell, her fingers started to tremble, and her legs felt weak. The last time she felt this exhilaration, the last time she felt the wind streaming through her hair like this, was during her previous mission.

Jiah's kart came to a complete stop, her gaze lowering. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked down at her clean hands and wondered if the blood she felt would ever go away.