Chaeyoung had been standing outside of the lone house situated at the east side of the gate of the Cultivator Academy for quite a while. She brought a pouch of coins with her and her hands fidgeted the pouch, thinking of how she didn't have any solid plan to confront the woman whom had easily slipped into her mind when she thought of Junhoe. The woman whose name was Hana according to Taehyung.

Chaeyoung didn't even know what exactly she expected to gain from this possible meeting. She had a hunch that she would get chased away for her presence might be an irritation.

She took a deep breath, knocked on the door a few times gently as she looked around the area. Though Taehyung's house used to be small, it wasn't as petite as the house before her. It looked like it could fit only a family of three.

There was yet a response. She knocked again a little harder. Just as she was about to tell whoever inside that she came for some potatoes, her ears registered the sounds of footsteps coming from behind the house. Chaeyoung stepped backward, cocked her head a little to see and a figure came into view. It was Hana dragging a larger basket of potatoes.

"Our stock of potatoes for today is only for the academy," she said and when she looked up, her face fell. "What are you doing here?"

Chaeyoung held the pouch tightly in her hand. "I want to see you."

Hana's gaze diverted toward the pouch that Chaeyoung was holding. "If you are here for the potatoes, you heard what I said."

It wasn't unusual for Chaeyoung to receive such coldness directed to her before, but it was rare to be getting it from a complete stranger. The only ones who would give her cold responses most of the times directly to her face were her own father and her Master.

Chaeyoung figured that using the coins she brought would no longer be useful after Hana tried to send her away, telling her that the potatoes were not to be bought by anyone else since they were kept for the academy. She figured that it was best to skip the act of beating around the bush.

"I am here to talk about Junhoe," Chaeyoung declared.

She watched Hana's expression hardened, her eyes narrowed. She saw how Hana had swallowed hard upon the mention of Junhoe's name. There was hate. There was anger. There was disappointment. Each of them was tainting her pretty face.

"Get out of here," Hana responded with a heavy frown. She looked away and tried to drag the potatoes into her house, suddenly gaining more strength as she was able to drag them easily with a speed that was not present when she first showed up.

"I mean no harm," Chaeyoung pleaded, not wanting to give up just yet. "I need you to help me."

Hana scoffed heavily as she stopped moving. Her green eyes rolled and darkened. "Help you with what? To learn of him? You are going to marry him. You'll learn about him much better by then."

"I do not want to marry him," Chaeyoung immediately revealed. "And I know you hate the idea as well. So please help me out."

The woman only stayed silent. Her expression changed but the hurt was still available on her face. It was still evident to Chaeyoung. "There's nothing I can help you with."

Chaeyoung let out a disappointed sigh. "This marriage can be stopped if you'd just help me out."

Hana's gaze dropped momentarily and when she lifted her gaze again, Chaeyoung was surprised to see disappointment, a look that held not even the slightest bit of hope. "No, it can't," Hana weakly replied.

Chaeyoung felt her own lips trembled with hurt and disappointment. Why was it so easy for her to give up? She clearly had strong feelings for Junhoe and it was mutual between the two. Why wouldn't they fight for what they wanted? Why would they let themselves be tied to the act of giving up? She couldn't let Hana give up on this. This would only destroy them all.

"I love someone else," Chaeyoung revealed rather slowly in a low voice, but did not go unheard to Hana as the latter's eyes flashed the briefest form of surprise. "What I have with the man that I love..." she trailed off, thinking of all the things that Jungkook made her feel. "I don't ever want it to be ruined by the presence of another man."

Hana's expression that was initially hard as stone slightly softened at Chaeyoung pouring her heart out. Chaeyoung offered a soft, weak smile. "And you... I know you don't like me for I will marry Junhoe. I understand that, truly. Trust me. I don't want to ruin whatever it is that you share with him either."

Startled at the statement, Hana's eyes widened and there was a hint of pink on her cheeks. "He's not more than -"

"He's special to you," Chaeyoung cut her off just before she could proceed on denying her true feelings. "He is very special to you, and you are to him. I am in love myself. I can see the way you look at him. I can see the way he looks at you. And I definitely know what those looks mean."

For seconds, the two young women only let the insects threw sounds to fill in the silence. Hana looked away, breathing in and out softly as she seemed to have a lot on her mind, Chaeyoung noticed. Chaeyoung patiently waited to see what Hana would want to do next.

After a while, Hana slowly walked away from her potatoes, toward Chaeyoung. Unlike how she had looked earlier, this Hana, the Hana that was walking toward her seemed to have more sadness hanging on her countenance as she drew closer. When Hana spoke, Chaeyoung couldn't help but became nervous at the hint of sorrow in the woman's voice.

"We must not speak here on the outside. Please, come in."

*

During the whole walk home, Jungkook couldn't get rid of the unsettling feeling he had after the information he received from Yugyeom. There was as though a hand existed behind his chest, clenching his heart brutally slow. His guts twisted unpleasantly, and his mind was restless. The terrible incident came haunting his mind ruthlessly, leaving him no room to calm down.

Yugyeom saw the men exiting the prison. They most probably went to visit the monster who had been locked inside it for quite some time. And according to Yugyeom, it was not the first time that they had visited their friend, their friend who had almost taken Jungkook's life while sparring.

Jungkook couldn't help but wonder all the reasons as to why they would visit him. What could they talk about? It also made him wonder why, out of all the days, on that particular day, none of them actually harassed Jungkook. Not even a mild harassment that they always did with their vicious words.

Perhaps, he was thinking about it too much. Perhaps, he was worrying too much. But how could he not, especially when the man who had attempted to kill him with his own hands was still alive and was still meeting his friends who spent almost every single day irritating him?

Just as he was about to arrive home, his grandfather stormed out of the house. His eyes were grim, expression hardened as he looked around while his hands held onto something. When his grandfather was standing in front of him, the old man spat a question filled with rage.

"What did you do this time?" The elder looked him dead in the eyes. "Did I not warn you even once?"

Jungkook only stared at his grandfather with deeply furrowed brows, dropping his gaze to the tightly clenched fists of the old man and he saw what was hidden behind his fingers.

He didn't need for his grandfather to uncover them. He knew that they were petals of the same flower attached to the door of his house the other day. Jungkook felt anger building up in his body, his breathing quickened as rage began to take over.

"What did you do?! Answer me!" his grandfather yelled.

"Nothing!" Jungkook yelled in return, his own body wrapped in angry flames.

"Then why are these here?" The crumpled flowers were thrown to his feet as the old man gritted his teeth. He was seething and Jungkook knew that any simple move of his grandfather, even with a flick of his wrist could kill a man within a second.

"I don't know." His anger and his fear cooperated with one another, tightening his guts painfully. In the seconds he spent studying the look on his grandfather's eyes, he knew they were thinking of only one thing.

Something was coming. Jungkook did not know what it would be. All he was certain of was that when the time came, his entire life would crumble and his existence in this world would cease. He would be gone.

*

He remembered the sleepless nights he had when he was still practicing his skills. Though he had weeks where he barely got a wink of sleep, none of those days exhausted him as much as what he was dealing at that moment.

Days went by quickly, replaced by nights that were supposed to be peaceful, supposed to make him feel at ease, supposed to help him think more wisely and thoroughly. But weirdly enough, every effort seemed like a waste. Each night spent on thinking what a red flower meant only brought him fatigue, because he couldn't find an answer.

Jimin strolled around the market on his day off, trying to look for a similar flower since the one he had had already wilted and dried. It no longer looked like a flower, especially when he also had it crumpled apart from having it died. He went from one end to another, not finding the same flower and wondered if the flower did exist or not.

With a deep sigh, Jimin changed directions, heading to the Cultivation Sector instead when he was about to head home. Perhaps, if it was not sold in the market, it was planted somewhere in the Cultivation Sector.

In any open area, he didn't find it anywhere at all. Until he slipped inside one of the most secluded areas in that sector where he actually found the flower. But the flower that he found was a plucked one that seemed to have fallen off a basket or carriage. Nevertheless, without thinking much, Jimin scooped it into his hand and slipped it into his pocket as careful as he could so as not to have it crumpled like the other day.

He had only one person in his mind at the moment of desperation. The person he trusted the most next to his sister. His best friend, Kim Taehyung.

Taehyung was playing with a new tree when Jimin arrived. Although initially, Jimin had been determined to ask Taehyung about the flower, the young Supplier's face repeatedly came into his mind. The expression on his face, the seriousness in his voice and the warning in his eyes. He had reminded Jimin to hide the flower from anyone and that it was to be kept a secret.

"Are you alright?" Taehyung asked, probably noticing how quiet Jimin had been from the moment he arrived. "Is Koo Junhoe causing trouble? You don't seem like you had a decent sleep at all, Jimin."

Jimin offered his friend a small smile that lasted briefly and a slight shake of his head. "Koo Junhoe has always caused trouble. When did he not?"

"True," Taehyung chuckled. "Then, if it is not him, what makes you lose your sleep?"

Jimin hesitated, lightly nipping at his bottom lip as Youngjae the Supplier's words marched around his head. He took a deep breath, pretended to be interested with the sand underneath his boot, trying to buy time although it was totally unnecessary.

"Is it your father?"

"No," Jimin lightly chuckled, shaking his head again before sighing. "Actually, I need to ask you about something."

Taehyung nodded with a lift of his brows, urging him to proceed with his question. He inhaled sharply before beginning slowly. "Do you know what flower this is?"

He pulled out the flower from the pocket, chastising himself at how crumpled it looked and regretted his action of putting it in his pocket. He could have brought a pouch to keep it, safe from damage and safe from the eyes of others.

Taehyung scrunched up his nose, examining the flower carefully in his hand before his eyes lit up. "This is Red Dahlia." Taehyung's eyes then flicked toward his, brows drawn together, forehead creased. "Where did you get this?"

Jimin caught the strange way of Taehyung asking him. He swallowed nervously as he once was reminded for the hundredth time of Youngjae's warning. "I picked it up while I'm on my way here," Jimin answered truthfully.

Taehyung nodded, but he had a strange look on his countenance. Jimin was not sure if it was of uncertainties or of worries. "What do you plan to do with this, Jimin?"

Jimin's own brows drawn in confusion. "Nothing." Unable to resist his curiosity at how Taehyung had reacted, Jimin questioned, "What's the matter?"

Taehyung took a deep breath as he placed the flower down on the ground with a shake of his head. "If you plan to give it to someone special, I don't suggest you do that. You need a different flower."

He licked his lips and crouched down, taking the flower into his hand and twirling it with his fingers. Carefully, Jimin tried to search for his friend's eyes. "Is there a reason?"

Taehyung glanced at the flower briefly and sighed. "Red Dahlia has a bad meaning, is all I know. I am not sure what, but I did hear something about it."

Jimin's eyes enlarged with curiosity, already making himself comfortable on the ground. "What does this flower mean, then?"

"I am not quite sure," Taehyung admitted apologetically. "It's best to avoid this flower when you mean something good to someone."

Jimin felt his heart suddenly picked up an alarming pace as he sat there quietly in panic albeit looking utterly calm. Taehyung warned him not to give that flower to someone for it held a bad meaning. Jimin received that flower. What did the Supplier wanted to tell him? What exactly did Village Leader Seokjin wanted to tell him? Why did he receive it? What exactly did Red Dahlia mean?

Clearing his throat, Jimin diverted his attention back to his friend. "If you find out what the meaning is behind this flower, will you tell me?"

Taehyung nonchalantly nodded but asked, "What is the matter? You are suddenly interested in flowers."

Jimin tried to conceal his thoughts so as not to make it obvious to Taehyung. He was dying to tell his friend, but deep in his mind, perhaps now was not exactly the right time to do so.

"I didn't know flowers had meanings," Jimin responded carefully. "Now that I know, I am curious."

Red Dahlia held a bad meaning, his mind constantly reminded him. Jimin was not sure why his sister's face floated in his mind every now and then along with the image of the flower, making his stomach lurch as an unknown fear began to plant itself inside of him.