Thank you all so much for reading this story ahhh I honestly don't think I could thank you enough for being with me through this journey

I didn't want to send off my baby without doing a little reflection (totally inspired by the one and only Jess - occamy - and her adorable reflections in her stories)

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Firstly, my amazing friends - both on this site and in real life - who've dedicated their time and love to helping me through my slumps. Milan - sparklingjin - you especially, thank you so much for everything you've done for me; talking me through my story when I feel like it isn't salvageable ugh the love I have for you is ENDLESS. My dear friend Eliena who's listened to me go on and on about my kids (the characters) and about how I countlessly paint myself into corners. She's also seen me crying writing that last chapter to me being giddy over all the fluff I'd written. I'm so thankful for you, girl, for putting up with me and for organising the chaos raging inside my head when I get stuck.

And I want to thank you, my readers. I see all of you who've been reading silently, and everyone who's been commenting as you read as well. I just want to say nothing you do goes unnoticed and I will never stop being thankful for everything. Not only have you supported me by reading my work, but in your kind comments and your votes, you've shown me the love I never thought I'd receive. I truly am grateful for each and every single one of you and I'm so thankful I can call you my friends ahhhh xx

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1. i actually wrote the ending to the whole story before beginning

does that sound weird?

that whole last chapter was the first thing i had written, even before the first few chapters

2. jiah turned out to be a completely different character to who i thought she was going to be

i was planning on her being ruthless for most of the story, for her to be a bit more cold-blooded. but yeah, she didn't listen to me now did she?

3. the story was very character-driven, as opposed to plot-driven

not sure if that makes as much sense, but the characters acted upon their own personalities and instinct most of the time, so - while it would have been better for the plot to write some events differently - i didn't because the characters basically wrote it all on their own.

4. jimin and jungkook didn't develop feelings for each other in my original plan

in fact, i kinda wanted them have a bit of disdain toward each other, but as i said, they didn't want that :) and i'm so glad it turned out this way because the jikook scenes in this whole story might have been my absolute favourites

5. jiah and tae weren't meant to have a happy ending :(

at some point through the story, i contemplated changing the oucome of the story a little, and debated on whether or not i should change the ending to a happy one

but - as sad and overdramatic as it sounds - it was never meant for them in this lifetime. they found each other, they loved each other with everything they had. and that was their fate

i'm not sure if i believe in the idea of having more than one life, but i just know that if these two were to live again, they would find each other, and maybe they'll have better luck then :')

ugh it sounds so dramatic and kinda far-fetched but, i just wanted to stay true to the dangers of gangs and the mafia, how ultimately people do lose their lives :(

6. i. actually. cried. editing. the. last. chapter.

i wish that was an exaggeration, but man it was hard to. like I said, i wrote the last chapter before anything else and so when it came to putting it into the story at the end, i had to edit it a little.

another fun fact, in the first ending i wrote, tae pulls the trigger on himself with jiah sitting in front of him. and it made sense to me in my original draft because jiah's character was a lot different in my original drafts, too. but the jiah we know now wouldn't have let that happen under any circumstance, so i had to tweak it a little.

but wow, editing it after being so attached to jimin and tae, it was so hard

7. word count: 106.6k!

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i thought it would be cool to share with you my initial plans for the story, the character profiles and everything, so i thought i'd add them in here! behold, my planning pages heh

i had more planning pages obviously but these were just the main!

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This little interview/dialogue talk thing is inspired by Toni, aka the love of my life, aka jiminiums - if you've been living under a rock and haven't read this angel's stories, please do omg you will not regret it

Tee shuffles in her seat as the last of the gang walk in, gathering around the coffee table and taking a seat. Some taking home in the soft couches and others making them comfortable on the ground.

The silence is broken as Jungkook clears his throat and rests his eyes on Tee, prompting everyone else in the room to do the same.

"Uhm, hey guys," the nerves had bubbled from her stomach to her throat, she barely managed to get her words out. She hadn't seen everyone together in a while.

"Hey!" a young voice chirped and Tee couldn't help but grin at the boy sitting cross-legged opposite her.

"I have a few questions to ask you," she continued, fidgeting with her phone as she tried to pull up the questions, "Does anyone want to volunteer to be first?"

"Yeah sure," Jungkook shrugged, "Hit me."

The figure beside him raised a hand then, slapping him gently on his arm.

"Ow!" Jungkook jumped back, "Jimin, what was that for?"

He grinned to himself, "It's a bit lonely being dead, I've missed teasing you."

Jungkook rolled his eyes, all the while trying to mask his signature Jimin-touched-me blush rising in his cheeks. "What's the first question?"

"Okay so," Tee had to use everything in her to pry her eyes away from the two men. She could watch them flirting with each other for days and never get tired. "Does Kookie go back to his old destined life?"

"Kookie?" Jiah's eyes widened at the nickname, "Why have I never called you that?"

"Dont. You. Dare," Jungkook seethed, throwing a glare over his shoulder at her.

"Kookie is such a cute name," Jimin smiled to himself, leaning over and placing his chin in his palm as he waited to Jungkook to answer.

"Uhm," Jungkook shifted his eyes from him and met Tee's, "I do love my father, and this whole life is definitely a big part of me. I know that if I did go back I'd be safe, I wouldn't be punished for trying to stop Kkangpae's plans back in Seoul," he sighed, expression falling, "But I know I'd put other people in danger and that's the last thing I want."

Tee nodded, patting him on the shoulder, "I'm still very proud of you for everything you're doing."

"What... what is it that he's doing?" Taehyung finally spoke and it was as if the room had been holding its breath the whole time.

"What?" he asked, everyone's gaze trained on him, "Don't blame me for not knowing! It's not like I'm keeping tabs on you all seeing as I'm dead."

"He's opened a somewhat legal tattoo shop in Busan as well as fixing up old motorcycles for other people."

"Somewhat legal," Taehyung snorted, crossing his arms over his chest and leaned back into the couch.

"Okay, I wanna see you try do anything fully legal with a rap sheet like he does," Jimin scoffed at his best friend.

"Sorry, sorry," Taehyung chuckled, leaning to the side and resting his head on the shoulder of his lover.

Jiah turned her head, pressing her lips to his forehead. She never wanted to take him for granted again.

"I have a question for Jiah now," Tee spoke again, "Does Jiah leave the gang? Knowing her boss wants to kill her?"

Nodding, she let her gaze wander to her brother, "When we left Seoul, we made sure we left every last part of us behind there. Lee Jiah and Lee Ji Young are gone, and we're now Kang Hee Jin and Kang Ha Won."

"And I wish we'd done it sooner," Ji Young added, smiling sadly at his sister and the man sitting next to her. The man he wished he could still touch.

"What about me?" Jimin's voice chimed, clearly trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"Right," she scanned her phone once, twice, three times. "Uhm, if you could, uh, if you could marry one person in this room, who would it be?"

"What?" Jungkook's eyes widened. "Did someone really ask that?"

"Yeah, the readers know he's dead right?" Taehyung deadpanned and Jiah slapped his arm.

"Did someone really ask that?" Jiah asked again, leaning over and looking at Tee's phone. Only to find the section under Jimin's name empty.

"Isn't the answer obvious?" Jimin answered with a question, and at that two people slanted forward, eager to hear his answer.

Jungkook and Tee watched each other do this, both of their competitive sides coming out.

"Who? Who?"

"Jungkook," he stated simply.

"What?" Tee frowned. "You're supposed to say me, Jimin."

"Why would I say that when a whole Jungkook is sitting right here?"

Jungkook nearly choked on his hot chocolate.

"Okay moving on," Tee huffed, feigning disappointment - however, she was definitely ecstatic about his answer. "Who wants to go next?"

There was a knock at the door then, causing everyone sitting in the room to exchange glances.

"Did we invite anyone else today?" Jungkook asked, starting to count the people inside. "We're not missing anyone."

Tee raised an eyebrow, standing from her seat and walking to the door, "Hello? Who is it?" she called, waiting for an answer.

When no one answered, she held her breath and opened it. The sight caused her eyes to widen, clearly not believing she was seeing correctly.

"I can't believe we were having a cast reunion and I wasn't even invited."

"Hoseok!" Tee exclaimed, throwing her arms over him, "Oh my gosh, Hoseok!"

"Y'all thought you could get away with 'conveniently forgetting' to invite me just because I died in chapter 28."

"We didn't forget," Tee mumbled, tearing from him and leading him to where everyone was sitting.

"Hoseok," Jiah and Jungkook softly said, hands reaching out to hold their best friend's hands, knowing they'd missed his touch every day. But strangely, it was as if he'd been with them all along.

Hoseok seemed to know what they were thinking as he gave them a knowing smile, coupled with a squeeze of their hands. And as usual, his smile never failed to light up the entire room.

"So where were we?"

"Uhm," Taehyung coughed awkwardly, "Introduce us," he muttered under his breath and Tee jumped.

"Oh yes! Hoseok, this is Taehyung and Jimin, Taehyung and Jimin, this is Hoseok."

"Nice to meet you, Hoseok," Taehyung sent him a polite smile before turning to Tee again, "So? Questions for me?"

Tee's breath was swept right from under her as he stared back. How Jiah was able to talk to this man without turning into a complete mess was beyond her.

"Are you proud of who you are?"

Taehyung blinked at her, "That's the question?"

"Yes, yes it is."

"Wow," he grinned to himself, "Ten points to whoever asked this question. Well, I'd like to say I am. I think I excelled in all the parts of my life that I actually valued. I had an amazing brother who I wouldn't trade for the world. I fell so deep in the river that was love I thought I'd drown - but it didn't feel like drowning at all. I truly wouldn't have asked for anything more."

"A happy ending," Jiah scoffed under her breath, throwing a glare at Tee. "You could have asked for a happy ending."

"The ending was written long before my story started, Jiah," Taehyung pressed a kiss to the side of her head, "I'll love you every lifetime to come, don't you worry - you're not letting me go that easy."

"Wow they're cute," Hoseok muttered, "I can't believe I've been missing out on all this."

"Do you have any questions for Hoseok?" Jungkook asked and Tee nodded.

"Did you ever feel any resentment toward your brother because he was the reason you had to join Kkangpae?"

"Hmm," Hoseok hummed, but then shook his head, "Nope."

"What?" Jimin tilted his head at him, "Really? You died because of-"

"If I wasn't in Kkangpae I wouldn't have grown as close to him as I did, and I wouldn't have met those two airheads," he looked to his right and left, his best friends sitting on either side of him, "Two friends that I know will remember me for the rest of time."

Jiah and Jungkook wore the same expression, one of misery with love painted over.

"I wouldn't have traded it for anything else."

Ji Young spoke up then, "So, is that it? Have you asked all the questions?"

"No, you still have one question left."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you," Tee grinned as she read over the last question, "Are you single? If not, can we go out?"

"Wait are you asking?"

"Uh, no, I mean, if you wanted me to ask-"

"Tee ew, you're like ten years older than me."

Tee stood up, running to slap the boy's arm, "Shut up, I'm not that old."

He let out a hearty laugh, jumping up and running around the circle, "I'm not answering that!"

"Wait," Tee paused, "Why not?"

She watched his eyes leave hers and turn to the side, resting on the other female in the room.

"I-I just can't."

"You think your sister's going to tease you if you have a girlfriend?" Tee asked, beaming at Jiah - who shook her head.

"Nope. I'm going to tease her because he doesn't."

"She's a jerk!" Ji Young exclaimed, plonking himself in the seat Tee was once in, "But Tee, who asked? Can you give me their number? Are they pretty?"

Jungkook laughed, getting up and throwing an arm around the boy's neck, "Little man, you better focus on school and basketball."

"For the last time!" Ji Young let out between breaths, "You of all people can't tell me to focus on school."

Taehyung shook his head, turning to Tee again, "Is that all? Do we have any more questions?"

"Nope, that's it."

"Are you sure?" Jiah furrowed her eyebrows, pulling Tee's phone from her hands. "Look! Someone's asked you a question."

"I-I can't just ask mysel-"

"How did you get the inspiration for the story?"

"Ahh, that's a good one," Jimin leaned forward, resting his elbow on his knee and his chin in the palm of his hand, "How were we born?"

"Honestly, I don't have the best answer for this. You guys came to me out of nowhere, a manifestation of hours of TV, writing prompts and angsty one-shots, this was born. And I'm grateful for it. One day I decided I wanted to end the story with the death of one or two characters - and it all came together."

"Hmm," Jimin scanned her disapprovingly, "We see."

"Well," Tee cleared her throat, "That's that then! Thank you guys for coming today and answering the reader's questions, I'm really going to miss you all so so much, thank you for everything you've done for this story."

They all chorused a bunch of 'you're welcome', 'it's okay', 'it's not goodbye just yet' and with that, they filed out of the room.

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Wow I really wrote a whole ass chapter to answer those questions. Can you tell I'm going to miss these babies :(

Anyway, thank you again so much for reading Diamond! Don't forget that there will be a couple extra chapters to come if you want to stick along! If not, that's okay too, thank you for everything xx

I hope to see you in another one of my works soon! If not, I appreciate your support on this story alone :) Thank you and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day/night

Forever loving you!

Tee