PART 1 - CHAPTER 1

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Bri POV

The plane landed slowly onto the long narrow strip of the airport, the lights of the city shining brightly in the dark night sky.

First time here, and I was feeling sick. Sick of everything around me.

All these people just stared at me, and it wasn't helping that I decided to wear a black crop top with red Nike shoes and golden hoop earrings to match.

Or maybe it wasn't my clothes they were staring at, but my curly and fluffed out Afro which I had been working on hard to maintain.

"We've arrived in Seoul, Korea. Please wait until further instructions to step out of the plain. For now you may remove your seat belts and begin collecting your items. Thank you for traveling with Asian Airlines."

I undid my belt at her command, going up to the shelf above my head to take out a duffle bag I had brought to bring some clothes in.

Hanging it on my shoulder, I waited patiently to hear further instructions before following a line out of the plane and into the airport.

A new place, a new life.

I had spent a great deal of my life in Brazil, the streets filled with music and happiness, but of that same happiness came dispare.

Gunshots, death, drugs, and violence also surrounded me.

I never did live a very normal life, and my job was all but normal to say the least.

Many people expected me to marry and move up to the states like many of the other girls in town, but no siri, I stayed and studied to become a coroner.

I spent a great deal of my time in the morgue, examining the dead and making judgments off their bodies, using them like open books to the investigations of others. The morgue was my turf, the place I studying bodies at for the benefit of both the investigators and also the families affected.

"Miss, are you lost?" a voice interrupted my thoughts.

I had been looking around the airport ceiling, seeing it highly decorated with vibrant colors and confetti, not knowing where my legs where taking me after I had picked up my luggage.

It must have been in honor of something, but the stranger made me realize I had been walking aimlessly around the airport, my mind lost in the decor.

"Miss?" he asked again.

Three other guys were behind him, and if I had been back in Brazil, the presence of four guys against one defenseless girl would have me sounding alarms, but these sweet men looked too gentle to even be threatening. Too gentle to kill a fly.

"Oh, yes! I was looking for the exit. Sorry, oh dear me," I blushed, my hand instinctively going to coil around one of my curls.

I wasn't very comfortable talking to strangers, no matter how gentle they looked.

The guy that had approached me had dark brown eyes, and prominent nose. He seemed like he was more concerned for my well being then over what I was wearing, compared to the guys behind him.

A first in my many years of living. Usually people would look at me like I was some sort of odd artwork, attempting to decipher my fashion or even my personality, basing me off solely on my appearance.

One of these people being the man with pale white skin and dark shades on behind the stranger that had been talking to me, shades which he had taken off to look at me better.

The shorter one next to him was sucking on a lollipop, taking his time to undress me with his eyes, from the top of my hair to my feet, he scanned me curiously.

The last one however, was a lot more serious looking, acting uninterested but secretly taking one or two glances in my direction. He had an air of maturity even if his actions demonstrated otherwise, compared to the others, he was the most comforting.

"New around here? Looking for a particular place sweet lady?" The guy in front of me asked again.

He gave me a kind smile, very genuine and almost child like. In any other situation I would have thought he was trying to pick me up, but his curiousity seemed real, not malicious at all.

"Yes, actually, do you know where Seoul Hospital's sends it's dead?"

I must have sparked a sort of horrific feeling in them, their faces becoming mortified at the sound of the word "dead."

They weren't the first, nor would they be the last to seem so threatened by my words. I always had this way of making people fear me or be scared of what in would say next. These guys were no different.

"Are you a grim reaper," the shortest asked, eyeing me through his dark bangs while taking out the lollipop he had been sucking on and using it to point at me.

"Not quite. Actually, it's the morgue I'm looking for. You know, where they send the dead."

There was a unison gasp of air, the men laughed after understanding where I had been trying to ask directions to, the shortest one's laugh being a bit more shaky then it should have.

Did I look like a grim reaper to them?

"Ah, lady that would be a couple miles from here. If you take the bus..." the pale one began to explain.

He had very delicate features, his hands pointing outwards as he explained to me how to go, the same manly hands he used to push the shorter's hand down so that he stopped pointing at me.

Out of the corner of my eye, however, I felt lingering eyes on my back. It made me uneasy to be there, but I sucked it up and nodded to the man's every words.

I was probably just being paranoid.

"Did you understand ma'am?" he asked as he finished.

I nodded a bit nervous, trying to brush off the sensation that continued to hit the back of my neck like poison darts.

"Well it was great meeting gentlemen such as yourselves. I must be on my way."

I bowed politely and and passed through them, whispering a thank you as I let them disappear behind me.

One of them ran after me, tapping my shoulder for me to look at him.

It was the serious one, his eyes becoming playful and full of fire when they met mine. He was far taller then the others, and next to him, he towered above me.

"Miss. You dropped something," he mumbled, extending his hand out to show me one of my hooped earring.

It must have fallen while I talked to them.

I smiled at him while taking the earing into my hand and putting it back on.

"Thank you," I answered and went off on my merry way.

_____•●•_____

"So you're a new intern," the secretary in front of me mumbled.

I had arrived at the morgue with little to no traffic, the cold white walls and smell of iodoform confirming my arrival to the place known to keep the dead.

It was hard to miss any how, the place pretty easy to spot once I took a turn into the street with bold red letters on an old poster plastered with the words "Seoul Medical Facility and Mortuary," leading me in.

"We can say that. I'm coming from Brazil and will be here for only two years, so....."

"Well it's a bit late ma'am, Dr. Kim left about half an hour ago and he won't be back till the morning."

"Shoots," I mumbled.

The lady behind the desk had also been eyeing me intensely, a little like the guys at the airport, her eyes lingering on the small red broken heart tattoo on my face.

Not many people made a fuss about it, and working as a mortician simply made it harder for people to complain to me for having one.

"Have you been set up at a hotel yet?" She interrupted, looking at me as if testing me, almost darung me to respond.

"I have my living arrangements set up already at an apartment complex near by if that's what you mean. So don't worry Ma'am."

She smiled softly, taking the paper that had printed out from the printer machine next to her and handing it to me.

"Here's the student form for apprentice's or interns. Fill it out and bring it in tomorrow when you come to see Mr. Kim."

I took the sheet and bowed my head as a thank you and wished her a, "good night," before turning towards the big double doors.

The air outside was nice and chilly, the stars high above the sky.

Boy was I far away from home I thought to myself, walking down the steps of the morgue before making my way to the black rental car I had taken there.

But before I could even touch the car door's handle, I felt a shiver down my spine, the small hairs in the back of my neck standing, up alert. It was a familiar feeling. The feeling of panic. The feeling I got before I saw death.

"Who's there?" I yelled.

I felt someone's presence.

I knew someone was there, but while I was very curious, the thought of having someone so close to me yet out of sight terrified me.

I quickly got in my car, closing the door behind me and locking it before speeding away.

I wasn't about to stay and find out who or what was following.

I could care less what it was, all I wanted was to be at peace, alone.

I drove so quickly to my apartment complex I was almost 100% sure a cop would stop me, but they didn't.

Running up the rundown stairs, I opened the door to my apartment, and locked the door behind me, making sure even the top notch was locked.

Had moving there made me more paranoid?

I wasn't sure, but I wasn't looking forward to finding out.

I took off the black jacket I had put on when arriving at the airport, throwing it in the direction of the new furniture decorating my apartment living room.

I was crazy for even deciding to fly out to Seoul, South Korea in the first place, I thought, taking off my shoes and placing them neatly in the entrance, making my way to my new room while dragging my luggage with me.

"Oh honey, I'm home," I whispered, amusing myself with the small gesture.

Turning on the light of the room, I scanned the place meticulously, making sure everything I had ordered to decorate the place was there.

The bed had been set up with bright white sheets, and the hardwood floor had a fluffy black carpet dropped over it. The windows had black curtains, making the room dark and cozy for me, with small string of lights wrapped around the top pole.

There was a small black desk to the left of the bed, and a door leading to the closet on the right.

The bathroom was on the opposite side of the closet, the door in a corner of the room, easy to slide in and out of.

Before even going in to explore the bathroom, I threw myself onto the bed, letting go of my luggage near the entrance of the room while letting my skin feel the nice cool sheets.

"Hello Korea. Aren't you a nice place to call home?"

"It's rather lonely, talking to myself like this isn't it Bri?" I asked myself, sitting up to see the drawer and TV set up in front of the bed.

Grabbing the remote from one of the night stands, I turned it on and flipped through the channels to wear the group "VAV," was singing their new comeback song.

I had heard about them on my way to the city, the taxi driver being a lovely lady with impeccable taste for music.

"Well I could sure use a shower," I laughed, getting up to get my suitcase while placing it on my bed and beginning to look through it for clothes to change into after a shower.

Slipping out of my clothes, I turned on the water, and slowly made my way inside, waiting patiently, using some soap to scrub down my body.

"Ah, this water feels great," I whispered.

It had been a long trip, and my shoulders felt stiff from sitting upright the whole flight over, my hands rubbing them over and over before rinsing off the soap.

It was 1 ㏂ by the time I walked out, my hands opening the small container of lotion to place on my legs, the towel I was wearing nearly slipping off as I changed the channel on the TV.

That's when I heard it.

The sound of a low voice asking me to come closer startled me from the direction of my door.

I felt my heart leap out of my chest, someone smashing the window open as I moved away from the voice.

I ran towards the restroom door, my hands pushing it closed in a failed attempt to keep him out, but the man opened the door with a single woosh, the force pushing me onto the floor.

He was trying to tie me up, the rope he was holding in one of his hands falling onto the floor.

That same voice I had heard whispering to me turned out to be another man different from the one who had made his way into the restroom, the other guy smacking the one who was on top of me to one side before grabbing a hold of me.

He pulled me over his shoulder, two more men walking into the restroom to tie the man who had attacked me, up.

It was such a blurr I couldn't make out their faces.

"Grab her things August. Thankfully she hasn't really unpacked. Make sure all existence of her is erased from this place," the voice of the man who was holding me said.

I wanted so badly to fight, to run away from them and hide. But I couldn't. I was on his shoulders like a sack of potatoes, lifted up and taken through the window of my new apartment to a van that was parked between a dark alleyway down the street of the apartment complex.

I wanted to scream, but before I knew it my eyes drifted into a deep slumber.

I must have been drugged. I had felt that way once, falling asleep powerless without anyone to help me wake up.

The voices.

The voices that filled the air where laughing, some concerned, asking if "the girl" was OK.

Where they talking about me?

I could hear the sound of the engine being turned on, the vibration under my cheek making my eyes open slightly. It was dark, or at least the few things I could see, were dark. The smell of gasoline and rust filled the air, the sound of the men around me scaring me nearly to the brink of actually peeing on myself.
But I held back, the tears that ran down my chin hitting the small metal floor.

"Oh, she's crying!" one of the males proclaimed, kneeling next to me.

He was now in full view, my eyes finally adjusting to the darkness, making out a slender hand approaching my face.

"YOU BROUGHT HER?!" I heard someone else yell, the sound of something being thrown startling me.

"I couldn't just leave her there. He'd have killed her if we left her. And if not him, another buffoon would have taken the girl."

The voices seemed familiar, the noises coming from them startling to say the least.

"Captain, do you think we should drop her off at the police station, it's on the next block over," a timid yet deep voice suggested.

Unlike the other voices, this one sounded unfamiliar, the voice of the man deep enough to make the van echo.

There was a sudden pause followed by a brief discussion I couldn't all make out.

"J.K, just leave everything to me. Dumping her there might as well be the end of us too. I'll call Hope to see if he can have his sister come over to care for her. I just can't believe Chiminie here would have actually had the stupid idea of bringing her with us. And to think August is usually the voice of reason, but followed through with you guy's idiotic ideas."

The voices went silent as my fate began to be decided by them.

What had I gotten into again?

_____•●•_____

I was sitting in a bed in a corner of a desolate room, some sweatpants and a white shirt sitting at the foot of it.

"Should I put them on?" I wondered, still looking around the place like a lost puppy.

I didn't know whether to trust or not trust them, my heart still pounding, filled with the same adrenaline rush I had felt back at the apartment.

I hadn't seen their faces at all, the voices outside the room only letting a slender frail girl in to drop clothes off.

They looked like men's clothes oddly enough, but I wondered why they hadn't simply given me clothes from my own luggage since they did have it with them, from what I had heard.

I sat there, using the towel to dry off my still wet hair, sliding onto the warm clothes that seemed to be fresh out of the laundry. The room was cold, the walls small and the floor a bit dirty. The slippers they had given me not giving me enough distance from the grime I was stepping on.

"Hello," I yelled, hoping someone would answer my calls. No one did, the sound of feet walking past my door was the only thing I could make out, besides the sound of a loud whistle that has passed by the slender barred window. Maybe a train?

I was scared.

I was cold.

"H-hey, anyone there?" I yelled again, my voice shaky from both fear and cold.

I had been yelling for a while, hoping someone would at some point answer my pleads.

The sound of the door knob clicking startled me, making me take a step back from the door that I had been standing by, my eyes looking around the rokm for any sort of Blunt object to use against who ever came in but faiking miserable.

I stood there defeated and terrified.

A familiar face opened up, my eyes scanning the guy up.

It was one of the guys from the airport, his prominent nose and cheeky grin being hard to forget.

"Would you be so kind to shut the fuck up? It's hella late and we are all trying to sleep, we'd appreciate it if you'd go to bed too," he groaned.

His hair was wet, a white towel hanging around his shoulders as he looked up at me.

He looked annoyed, his clothes mirroring my own. Had they given me his clothes to wear? In any other situation I would have been mesmerized by his charming eyes, but in that moment I was horrified.

Who was he and why did they have me trapped? What were they doing in my apartment and why had they taken my things with them? Who were they anyways?

"Why am I here?! Why did you guys kidnap me?!" I yelled.

I looked around him to see if I could make out where I was being held, but it was too dark to see, the hall being dark compared to the lightly lit room I stood in.

"Kidnap? Lady we saved you from getting actually kidnaped and murdered. We'll talk about it tomorrow, for now please sleep, you're waking the rest of the guys up and it's absolutely annoying to hear you scream. Your fucking voice echoes all the way up to my room."

I went silent. I wasn't one to fight, especially if they had the upper hand and could easily defeat me if I tried to run or retaliate.

There were many of them and a single one of me.

Maybe they had that girl kidnapped too, the shy one that had entered to leave some clothes for me.

However, whether they did or did not, it didn't matter because in the end, I was still there, locked in a small room with a single small barred window and a single door.

What was I to do?

He closed the door, the loud sound of the same whistle I had heard earlier passing by my window once more.

I wanted to go home.

I walked over to the bed, laying down on it in hopes of falling asleep, but it was hard, the thought of one of them going in while I slept and taking advantage of me kept me up.

My stomach growling didn't help, I was hungry and my stomach continued turning throughout the night as I continued to make up scenarios of what was to become of me the next day.

Was I going to be killed? Sold off? Would I be starved or held to ask for ransom money from my parents?

So many thoughts popped in my head, until the last one made me cry.

I might become one of the corpses at the morgue, just like the ones I studied. I hoped someone would be able to care for me like I had done for so many people.

When I finally came to, the sun was rising from the horizon and slowly lighting up the room more than the small lughtbulb in the room did. It was morning, the sound of, what I was now sure of to be a train passing by, filled the room. The doorknob to my room clicked, the girl from the day before coming in to hand me a sweater.

"Excuse me, are you also being held captive?" I asked, curious to know if the frail girl was being held against her will and being forced to care for me.

"You sure are slow," she muttered, walking out of the room with her back to me, my arms sliding into the sweater before I looked at her confused.

She turned her head to look at me, a small and mischievous smirk plastered on her face.

"Come with me, my brother and his friends are expecting us for breakfast. We can't keep my brothers waiting," she said.

The way she changed her words from a single brother, to all the men she was referring to as brothers confused me.

Was only one of them actually her brother?

I feared asking, thinking that maybe she'd lash out at me if I said anything, since she had already called me slow.

Following behind her, we walked down a narrow dark hallway and into the end of some metal stairs. Down below I could see a dining room and kitchen, next to it a small living room with two guys sitting in it.

The couch was a mess of stiched up fabric and the TV a but blurry, a long antena coiled up and onto the wall.

"I brought her like you asked Ji-" she paused, before saying "-RJ."

"Ah, that's good. Come sit down, the rest of the guys will be down in a little bit. Hey Yoo- I mean August, come help me set down the plates to serve the guys food."

Going down the steps, I watched as one of the guys who was sitting on the couch got up sluggishly and walked over to the man who was in the kitchen.

Both of them were beyond handsome, the one in the kitchen (named RJ from what I heard the girl say) had brown hair and full, plump lips, his shoulders so broad he nearly covered the view of the sink behind him as I approached him. He had a blue apron around his waist, his smile enchanting me in one fell swoop.

The one who had gotten up was one of the guys I had met at the airport, his orange hair hard to forget along with his pale white skin.

He was stunning, yet looked angry as he sluggishly dragged himself behind RJ.

August.

Was that his name?

"Jiwo, could you wake up your brother and the rest of the guys? I'll get Taehyung up from the couch so don't worry about him."

He paused before he turned away from her, looking hesitant once we arrived by the dining room table. The one called August turned to look at her sternly, his eyes narrowed in her direction.

"Jiwo. You should put on something more appropriate or your brother will be willing to murder your skanky ass," he groaned at her.

She looked annoyed, grabbing a napkin from the table before throwing it at him.

"You're just mad that im three years older than you and even the I won't date you. Learn a thing or two from Taehyung will you MIN YOONGI and learn to address me properly before expecting me to pull you out of the friendzone," she mocked in the most cocky voice I had ever heard.

She looked at me, looking annoyed before turning around and walking up the steps we had just walked down from.

That's when I realized what he had been talking about.

I hadn't noticed her wearing a nightgown, the fabric silky and hugging her curves. She was what I called a tease. Her back was mostly exposed while the top was in the shape of a deep sweetheart neckline.

No wonder he had scolder her, I would have too seeing as how many men were around her.

"That brat. She thinks she's all that just because she's older. She has no idea she's the most immature of the bunch, and that's saying something when compared to Jung-" he paused, looking over at me before turning away without completing his thought.

"Well great, she's gone and revealed two names," he huffed out, walking to the cupboards and opening them.

RJ smiled, looking over at me tenderly from where he was standing next to the stove.

"Well, you revealed Jiwo's name so why are you complaining. Sit down sweetie, we'll eat in a bit just let me finish this last dish okay?"

I nodded, walking toward him without a single hesitation. Why was he so comforting?

My mind had become a blur of questions, but in that moment I was hungry, scared, and wanting to attach myself to anyone who seemed kind. And that was him.

"His name's Jin. He's 28 and so far as I know, single," someone said from behind me.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up. It was the guy who had been sitting on the couch, his eye smile and giggle making me nearly jump half a foot away from him.

"Cut it out, stop making our guest uncomfortable Tae," the one who I thought was named RJ (now apparently Jin) scolded.

"Guest? This woman thinks we kidnaped her," a familiar voice said from on top of the stairs.

"Ah, Jungkook, you finally woke up. I had been trying to get you up since 4. Did you stay up late?"

"Yes. Because this...this woman wouldn't stop complaining. 'I'm hungry. Why are you kidnapping me? I want my nommy!! Weeh weeh' etc etc. She's beyond annoying, I had to deal with her wailing almost all night," he groaned, scratching his hair while yawning.

"Kidnapped?" the guys said in unison.

The short guy I had met in the airport came in after Jungkook's small speech. He giggled as he pulled Jungkook down the stairs with him, his arm around Jungkook's waist.

"Well, he was the one with the bright idea of bringing you here for your own safety, so I understand why you'd think he was the one to kidnap you, but us??"

"Hey, Jimin, but wasn't it Yoongi who knocked her out because of your suggestions??"

The two had begun to bicker in front of me, one of them stating that I had nearly been killed while the other managed to both compliment me and insult my intelligence in one go.

"That's enough of you two, come sit down and eat before continuing to bicker- Oh Namjoon, you're here. Where's Jiwo and Hoseok?" the one named Jin smirked.

I looked behind the two idiots in front of me to find a fine gentleman standing there. He was the other guy I had seen at the airport, the one voice I recognized in the van when I was being brought there.

"Giving Jiwo a serious talk. I think he's finally going to tell her why he doesn't want her wearing such revealing clothing here. Might I add that he might send her back home with their- er um... Relatives."

They looked at each other seriously for a second, Yoongi, the pale one, being the only one not giving a damn about what was being said.

"I'll tell you something, if Taehyung hadn't tried to defile her, Hoseok would have probably not said anything," Yoongi mumbled, pulling a spoon from a drawer before walking to the dining room.

"Defile? DEFILE?! ARE YOU SHITTING ME-" the shorter one named Jimin began to say before being rudely interrupted by the taller guy named Namjoon.

"We might have to split up and drop her off. As soon as this young woman eats we might have to take her to work. She has orientation at 6."

That's when the words of the gentleman named Namjoon finally hit me. My blood had gone cold, realizing that I hadn't even introduced myself, nor was I in a situation where I felt safe.

"Please sit down to eat Miss-"

"Just call me Bri," I said cutting Jin off.

"So why did you guys bring Ms. Bri here?" Jin asked as Hoseok, the one they had been waiting for, finally came in.

All of them began placing food in plates, pancakes and omelets being shoved in front of some of the guys faces who had sat down. Jin pulled a chair for me near him, smiling sweetly as he served me some orange juice.

Jiwo hadn't come down, the guys beginning to talk as if it was a normal day for them, while I... I stood there extremely confused.

"Well, Ms. Bri was targeted by the AIM hacker group. I figured the second I saw one of their little henchmen following us. When they saw us speaking to her we realized they where planning something far more treacherous. They pretty much wanted to bate us by using the little miss. Fortunately enough, the men from AIM are pretty bad at their job and we were able to stop what could have been worse than a couple punches," Jimin smirked, picking up a chopstick to work around the rice Yoongi had placed in front of him.

"So, because I spoke to you guys I was nearly killed?"

"Actually, it's more of, because you walked past the AIM group. Jungkook was the one to notice. They are well known for their human trafficking schemes and because he stepped in and intervened and one of the guys recognized him, it became game over," Yoongi explained.

"Well, aren't you guys supposed to be anonymous anyway, how would the AIM group recognize you all?" Jiwo asked confused.

"Jungkook use to be part of the AIM group until Namjoon brought him in," Jimin smirked.

The table went quiet, the only one continuing to eat was Jungkook.

"Why didn't you ever tell us?" Yoongi groaned picking up his drink.

I sat quietly, finally understanding the situation. I had been protected by a group of individuals who where having a stroll in the airport and now sat safely in their home. Now that I thought about it, why had they been there in the first place? And why protect me?

"Well after breakfast I'll drive you to the morgue," Jin said, clapping his hands once to get everyone's attention back on the food.

The drink I had in my hand went flying out my mouth and into the palm of my hand in a fail attempt to minimize the casualties.

"How..."

"Excuse me?" Namjoon asked in response to my muffled words.

"How do you guys know all this about me- thank you Jin," I said, taking the napkin Jin had handed to me and using it to blow my nose.

"One, your scrubs, two luggage had your ID and all other info so all we had to do was look one or two things up and there you were in plain sight. Bri, 20 years old, siblings? Two, deceased. Mother deceased, father...unknown. Born and raised in Brazil-"

"Okay you can stop. I get it. You guys are hackers or something, those are some wacky ass details I hadn't really shared with anyone. Plus, going through my things like that without permission is kinda creepy and extremely disrespectful."

They looked at eachother. It was desperately awkward and silent.

"Well, I think we should go. Bri, your luggage is in your room. We simply looked through it to make sure you weren't being tracked. Go ahead and change into whatever you're going to wear to work. I left the paper filled out on your bed, courtesy of Namjoon here. Anyway, we better go so you're not late," Jin smilled.

Could I trust them?

I wasn't sure, but it was the only thing I had left to offer, plus it wasn't like I had any other choice.

"Okay."

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🐨I'm editing slowly so that might make this take two days before it's all uploaded but I do hope you enjoyed so far!!

Mama KoalaBeaw
~♔~