Neither one of the siblings had been the same since that night. In particular, her. If she wasn't busy searching high and low for those men, she'd sit in her office and gaze out the window, replaying that moment in her head and rethinking how she should've just agreed and made peace. Even if in the end Taemin would lie, betray her, and kill him anyway, she should've defied Dong-Wook's wish to try and save his life.

Regret did nothing to change anything, so after much self-reflection, she realized guilt-tripping herself for something that was out of her control wasn't going to ease the heartbreak or the sickness she felt from the mere thought of them. Instead of talking about it, figuring that it was too soon and the wound was fresh, she let those emotions boil inside of her until she couldn't take it anymore and snapped.

The person who fell victim to that wrath was Jungkook. She didn't want to hurt him, not after everything he'd done for her and how every step of the way, he'd been by her side. But Runa had enough of his concern, she couldn't listen to it anymore and felt annoyed by the nagging. So what if she didn't want to eat? How could she when all she could think about was Dong-Wook bleeding out next to her?

"Jungkook, I'm not hungry", she repeats once again as he walks into the office and places a bowl of soup and a sandwich on one plate alongside a drink.

Just smelling it made her feel nauseous because even though she wanted it, she couldn't take it. She didn't deserve to eat until Taemin was dead and revenge was rightfully taken. Even if she knew better, she was out of her mind lately and her bodyguard simply doing his job ticked her off.

"You haven't eaten since yesterday, and that was only a piece of bread. You can't go on like this, boss", he responds while sitting across from where she sat at her desk, his arms folded over his chest and that same frown on his face that showed he wasn't playing.

Her usual bright eyes looked dead, soulless. Her face was starting to look extremely thin, as did her body, and being the hyper-analyzing person he was, he noticed that. He noticed a lot of things and understood how she was feeling, even if she never expressed it, it was never necessary. He just knew.

"I'm only going to say this once", she glared at him, "I'm not hungry and I'm not eating. I can take care of myself", she nudged the plate aside so she could continue typing on her computer, but she didn't start doing so yet because his voice interrupted her.

"It sure looks like it", he snaps back, raising a brow at her when she rolls her eyes with a heavy sigh, massaging her temples with her index fingers.

"I'm not in the mood for this, Jungkook. I'm not a child and I don't need you treating me like one."

"I'm not treating you like a child, even though you are acting like one. Refusing to eat? That's not like you."

"I have work to do", she dismissively adds, wanting to change the topic as she starts typing on her keyboard to search the city's CCTV systems that she had access to.

"I do too, and taking care of you is a part of that", he stood up and walked over to where she sat, and stopping what she was doing, she glared over at him when he picked up the spoon placed on the plate next to the bowl of soup, scooping some up.

"Open", he says while putting the spoon to her mouth which was curved with displeasure.

"Don't patronize me, I don't need to be fed. I already said-"

He ignores her salty attitude and cuts her off, "I don't care. Open your mouth and eat."

"Or what?", she scoffs incredulously, "I'm your boss, and I-"

Again he interrupts, testing her patience, "I always take care of what's mine, and that includes you, Runa. You're mine and that comes before you being my boss, and you know me. I'm not one to take authority seriously. So eat."

Even though that warmed her heart, she was stubborn and wasn't going to back down so easily, eyeing the spoon that was still held up to her lips, "You're going to feed me? Like a child?"

"I'll stuff the goddamn sandwich down your throat if that's what it takes. Now open", he commands, not taking no for an answer and she was too annoyed and upset to fight back.

The soup looked good, and the sandwich looked even better. There was no point in pretending like she didn't want it, she could take a small break and eat before getting back to work. After a few seconds of contemplation and challenging him with her usual stare, she parts her lips and he puts the spoon in her mouth.

"My god, you're so stubborn, woman", he grumbles, a huff of relief passing by his lips as he pushes the plate towards her and allows her to eat without his assistance once she snatches the spoon out of his gloved hand.

She wordlessly munched on the sandwich, not noticing the small hint of pride on his face before letting it fall once she looked up at him with a melancholic expression.

"Will you leave me alone now?", she says after swallowing a bite of her food, and he shakes his head.

"No. I'll wait until you eat every single bite. And I mean every. single. bite", he says sharply between pauses, making her eyes roll once again.

"You're controlling", she impulsively says, not thinking much about the depth behind that.

"Someone needs to take control of the situation, and it's going to be me since you're barely holding on", he replies, expecting the glare she gives him from the backhanded insult.

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?", she bites back while chewing her food.

"Meaning that if you won't take care of yourself, I will. I'm sure you're busy with other things, but you're acting immaturely. You can't expect to fight when you're this weak", her eyes slightly widen at what he says and the bitter scoff she lets out sends a chill throughout the whole room, the air between them heavy.

"Weak? Do you know who you're talking to right now?", she slightly raises her voice, feeling insulted at the way he spoke towards her and too blinded by anger and ignorance to understand his true intentions.

"What I mean is that you won't say a single word to anyone, especially me. You stay huddled in this office day and night, running on fumes, and expect to be strong enough when the fight comes and you're not prepared for it?"

She opens her mouth to argue but he continues, "You're emotionally drained and that's affecting the rest of you. Mind is body, Runa."

His voice becomes devastatingly harsh, as does the look on his face, "And starving yourself isn't helping matters. You need to keep up your strength and you're doing quite a poor job at it. What would Dong-Wook think of this?"

Immediately her mouth falls agape and she stands up in a flash, the unhinged look on her face convincing him that he's getting somewhere with her, "Don't you dare", she grits out through her teeth, balling her fists at her side.

He lets her get close to him, towering over her much smaller body, "Do you think he'd want you to act like this? To suffer in silence, to distance yourself from everybody, including the man you claim to love and your brother who cares for you? Is that what you want to do?"

A scoff leaves her lips, "What is this, guilt-tripping 101? You're not going to-"

"You're in pain and it's obvious. Jimin is too and he's known Dong-Wook longer than you have, but do you see him ignoring you? He's the one making an effort to bring you two closer because you both suffered a devastating loss and you just want to hide from everything."

She hated the truth sometimes, especially when she was afraid, "Stop it. Stop it now. How would you know anything about what I feel or what I go through?", she chuckles menacingly, embracing the worst side of her because when she was hurting, she was violent.

"You're heartless, so explain to me how you'd ever know what pain feels like. No one's ever loved you in their entire life, and you haven't either, so you don't know what loss is. I don't hide. I'm not pushing anyone away. I want to be alone and you're too stubborn to see that."

He feels a sharp twist in his heart, knowing what she said was somewhat true but she could never be more wrong.

"I do know what pain feels like because I've seen it in you. I've had to watch as some of the most precious things to you were taken away. It's not easy loving someone, and it hurts, but I know it's worth it."

He places his hand on the side of her face and looks deep into her eyes, "It's worth it to be a victim of your cruelty, to hear things you don't mean and feel your anger. To me, no matter what you say, no matter if you call me heartless, unloveable, or even soulless, I won't care."

His voice grows softer as he moves closer to her face, his nose almost grazing hers and he can feel her heavy breathing ghosting his lips, "If you have to torture me, so be it. If you want to treat me this way to feel something, anything, then I'll let you. But don't ever say I've never loved anyone, don't think for a moment that I don't feel pain. Because we share that, I feel what you feel and once you get past this anger, I want you to see that."

Her anger melts away when he leans in for a kiss, planting a gentle peck on her lips before pulling away just a little to look at how her gaze softened, "I love you", he whispers.

"Say it again", she asks sternly, and he resists a smile.

"I love you, Runa. Only you."

He isn't surprised when she grabs his face and pulls him close to her, kissing him on the lips in a way that feels like an apology, confirming that what she said was out of anger, that she was indeed weak for giving in so easily and losing a part of herself because of it. So when he held her by the waist and pushed her up against the wall, he enjoyed her soft panting when she pulled away and slumped her forehead against his chest.

"Fuck you", she whispers, trying to catch her breath from that intense kiss that made her lungs heave and her legs feel like jelly.

"Maybe one day, but before we do that, you have some things to do."

He raised a brow at her, and when she looked into his eyes, she knew exactly what he was talking about. She huffed while sitting back down in her chair to finish the rest of her food, Jungkook watching with a plain expression but his eyes reeked of smugness that made her flustered.

"Go talk to him", he strokes her head before planting a heart-warming kiss on her temple, walking out of the office to leave her alone for a few minutes.

Runa could always count on Jungkook to bring her out of that state, no matter which one it was. Sometimes she would drown in her emotions, and it wasn't that easy to escape. She thinks how much simpler things could be if she didn't have people to care for. Was it worth it? She was considered one of the most powerful people in the world, but what does that mean if she can't protect the ones she loves? On that note, as she stood in front of her brother's office door, there was a moment of hesitation before knocking.

"Come in", she heard his voice, and upon walking in, she sees that the distressed frown on her brother's face eases as soon as his eyes land on her.

A hesitant smile spreads on his thick lips, and he instinctively brushes his disheveled hair back, his skin an odd shade of gray, and it saddened her to know he had to go through this alone without support, just because she thought it would be best to ignore everyone.

"Is there something wrong?", he asks with concern, his moon eyes lighting up when after what felt like centuries, she smiles while sitting across from his desk on one of the leather couches.

"We need to talk. I know things have been rocky between us lately, and I'm at fault for that. You've tried to be supportive and help me, but I didn't let you in. I pushed you away because that's what I'm used to."

He nods a little as she speaks, happy to hear her voice and see some remnant of color back in her face. It was a bitter reminder as to what they lost and how it forced them apart. The fights they had were ugly, their emotions got out of hand and they both said things that should've never been said.

Neither of them had to experience and suffer a loss such as this before. Their parents were different because at the time they were too young to understand what happened to their mother. Dong-Wook was something else, they had a real connection with him.

"Losing my dog was bad, seeing an animal suffer like that was something I wished to never see. We do inhumane things, we're bad people and that's who we are, but she was different. She was like my child", she starts to get sentimental, allowing herself to open up even if it felt like a knot was lodged in her throat, the words just barely escaping her mouth.

"Losing her on top of Dong-Wook...I couldn't handle it. I wasn't strong enough, because every day, every minute, all I can think about is seeing the both of them bleeding out on the ground."

Her voice held sorrow, but she didn't cry, she was too far gone to go back there again. She could tell Jimin understood, by how his eyes dimmed and his smile fell. He knew what she was going through and tried to talk to her about it, but she didn't want to. It took a bit of time, but they got there.

"It wasn't fair of me to push you away, I realize that now. Both of us look like shit and that needs to change", she says with a small smile and he lightly chuckles, knowing it was true.

"I'm sorry too. I said things I didn't mean and I regret them. But thank you, thank you for not pushing me any farther away than I was. I'm with you, we're fighting side by side through all of this, but are you here with me?", he asks, wanting her reassurance that no matter what, she wasn't going to give up.

"I'm here now, and I'm not leaving."

"Good", he softly mumbles, the air feeling awkward now seeing as they still had to get used to expressing how they felt with each other.

"Now that things are cool between us, I have a plan", she announces, making his head lift along with his gaze that was previously downcast in thought.

"Yeah? What's that?"

"You might not like it, it's risky", she pursed her glossed lips, and with a smug grin on his face, he only shrugged and leaned back in his chair,

"Risk is what makes this worthwhile. So hit me. What's your idea?"

He gave her a chance to speak, he heard her side of things, her idea, even if everything in him was against the risk of losing her. She was on edge, as was he, and he was terrified to lose her for the last time. That's why he has a certain look on his face when he responds.

"Runa, are you sure about this? I don't know if I'll be able to protect you there. I'll try but-"

She chuckles at his worry but the confidence she exudes makes him feel a bit better, "Jimin, if I can do this, if I can take out this one piece, the cards will fall into place and everything will be in our hands. Yoongi might be angry with him, but that will never overshadow his desperation. If I can convince him that I'm being sincere, Taemin will accept it without question because that's his brother."

Jimin takes a moment to contemplate the situation, and with a sigh, she smirks when she sees that look of acceptance on his face, "You've got a point. But please be careful about this. Have you talked to Jungkook about it?"

The way her smirk falls within seconds makes a triumphant grin spread on his and he comically laughs at the look on her face, "Ha! You're in deep shit now, little sis. Good luck explaining your plan to him now."

With a grumble, she waves dismissively and struts out of the office, flipping him off as he continues chuckling to himself even when she leaves and goes to find Jungkook who's busy in his room, both of his guns resting on the dresser while he loads one of the magazines, turning to her when he hears his door open.

"How'd it go?", he pushes in another bullet, and picks up one of the guns, slipping the magazine into the handle with a satisfying click as she approached him and sat on the end of his bed, watching his back as he now turned around to face her.

"We have a plan."

"Am I going to like it?"

"No", she releases a sigh, pressing her lips into a thin line at the look on his face, showing he's used to this by now and knows it's something involving her as bait.

"Alright, hit me. I'm sure I can handle it."