Yoongi glances at the stone walls around him, wondering how he got here. Well, that's not hard to figure out. He surrendered despite Hoseok's hesitance. Speaking of, Hoseok and Taehyung are sitting against the wall across from him. They're all waiting for their court hearing. He wonders if Y/n figured it out yet. Actually, he wonders if Jimin, Ariel, and Y/n made it out at all. His heart pangs for the three, and he does something he hasn't done in a while: he prays.

If anything were to happen to the three of them, he'd be devastated beyond belief. Jimin and Y/n especially. Jimin's been through too much, all because of Yoongi. The least Yoongi can do is make sure the man is safe. And Y/n's the love of his life, as dramatic as that may sound.

"Do you know where Ariel is?" Tae asks, his index finger rubbing against the fabric of his pants.

"How would I know? We're trapped in a fucking cell," Yoongi replies, not meaning to be harsh, but it's the truth. None of them know shit about Jimin, Ariel, and Y/n. That's what worries him most.

"Well Yoongi, to be honest, I don't give a damn about you, Hoseok, or Y/n. I care about Jimin and Ariel, those are the two I want to protect."

"Gee, nice to know I can rely on you."

"Wait, back up, what did I do?" Hoseok asks, whipping his head around to glare at Taehyung. But of course, the man can't see that expression.

"Nothing, I just care a lot more about Ariel and Jimin, so if it came down to saving you or one of them, I know who I'd choose."

"That's reassuring. Nice to know the blind guy will even know which one of us is in danger," Yoongi says, Taehyung gritting his teeth.

"Is everything about my disability? Just because I can't see doesn't mean I can't do other things. Remember who got us through those doors? That was me. Not you, not Hoseok - me."

"When it comes down to it, I'm not protecting your ass in a fight. And sorry Tae, if we were to fight right now, I think I'd win," Yoongi replies, waving the air.

"I don't need eyes to kill you," Taehyung whispers. "So don't test me, Mr. Min. All I want is Ariel safe and sound. I'll rest easy when I know she's alright. Her and Jimin." He pauses, sighing. "I'm sorry, I'm being harsh. I'm just so worried about Jimin, and I..."

"I get it," Yoongi says, kneeling despite Tae's lack of eyesight. "I'm worried about him too, and he's not my best friend like he is yours. Do you trust him?" Tae nods. "Then you know he's okay. He always will be. If not for you, than for that kid."

Taehyung doesn't agree or disagree, he only stays pressed against the back wall. Yoongi doesn't need to be a mind reader to know his thoughts: he can see them in Tae's frowning lips. In his tensed shoulders. In his lowered head. If Tae had eyes, Yoongi's sure he'd be seeing the eyes of a child. A broken one at that. And Yoongi isn't sure how to cope with that. Or if there even is a way to cope with that.

The silence that carries on between them is deadly. Hoseok mouths an apology to Tae several times, but he can't bring himself to say it. Yoongi doesn't bother saying it for him. He loves Hoseok, but that's his decision, not Yoongi's. Hoseok didn't really say anything wrong, it was Tae who blew up at them out of stress. Worry that he'd lose yet another thing in his life. First his world, then his eyes, then Jungkook. Tae can't afford to lose someone like Jimin and Ariel too. It'd mess him up more than he already is. Wait. Is there even a way to surpass that? Yoongi doesn't want to find out.

A few minutes later, the cell door creaks, opening to reveal a guard with his lips turned up in a scowl. He beckons Yoongi forward, and he agrees albeit hesitantly. He says goodbye to his two friends, the guard leading him out of the room and down the familiar concrete halls they were transported in from. Yoongi ponders how a palace so extravagant can still have prisons this bland.

The walk is silent and a drag, Yoongi's shoes falling apart more and more with each step. His sneakers have become two blobs of fabric with little bows tying them together. His clothes are no better with the threads hanging off his body, his hair about as much of a mess as his mental state without Y/n. His girlfriend. The one he'll marry.

Assuming she's alive.

Yoongi brushes off the thought as soon as it plagues his mind, his fingers going clammy as he continues the trek throughout the prison. Soon enough, they're out of the dungeon and into the main palace. The difference makes him sick. What was a mucky, dark corridor is now a grand, enormous pathway with literal red carpets rolled out for him to step on. When he does, it makes him gag and wish to throw up.

The guard either doesn't notice or doesn't care and keeps going, Yoongi following by his side in fear of getting shoved or hit. He wouldn't put it past the guards to do something like that. They're donning black suits with gloves, pistols in plain sight but locked so Yoongi can't snatch it. Why are the pistols locked, one might wonder. Yoongi was wondering the same thing when he first saw them, but now, he knows why: the guards are so fucking good at fighting, the pistol is only for show. That's why they lock it with a clasp. They win fights without their pistols, so there's not even a point in having them easily accessible.

A minute later and Yoongi is being forced inside an office, him scowling even though the guard leaves, shutting the door behind him. By office, Yoongi means a God damn palace inside a palace. Golden walls shimmering across his pupils, more red carpets with navy stitching for some fucking reason. There's even a bed in here: a king at that.

But that isn't why he's here. Not for a bedroom tour, he's here for Madam Avasa. The woman is present, placed behind her desk with her dark sari hiding much of her skin. Her earrings are dangling, banging against the side of her head and making Yoongi wince. 

When she glances up, the hatred spews over. He considers beating her to death, then he realizes there's a guard outside, so that won't happen. Not to mention she's the damn leader of the Underworld. He isn't going to win a hand to hand fight no matter what she's wearing that may be limiting her. 'Politician' or not, she at least knows basic self-defense.

"Mr. Min," she says, closing her laptop and motioning for him to take the seat ahead. "We have a lot to discuss."

"All my group wants is a way out of this. I protected my people, surely you can understand that." He lets himself sit, but his shoulders remain tense. "You're protecting yours. I understand that too, but I saved my family. You want revenge. I get it, I know the feeling all too well, but killing us won't solve anything. Us being alive and destroyed is enough of a punishment, don't you think? Ariel is scarred for life, my girlfriend is too even though she won't admit it. Jimin was scarred the second he was born. Do I need to mention Taehyung and Jungkook? Nothing good has come of this."

"Your relationship?"

"Happened before this."

"How about Mr. Jung? You repaired your relationship with him, did you not?"

"Mr. Jung and I have a complicated relationship, sure, but do you really consider two ex-friends learning not to kill each other when they're in the same room a 'good thing'?"

She waves her hand, standing most likely to assert some form of dominance on him by being taller than his seated form. She rounds the table and stops in front of him, him glancing up so their eyes can lock. 

"There is no such thing as good. It's only a construct made by humanity. Almost every moral we have isn't real. It's perspective, something manmade and therefore not solid judgement. I don't care if you think your life is shit or amazing, but I know facts. Not manmade bullshit: facts. And the facts are that you killed a High Council member, your two Mr. Kim subordinates killed another, and Taehyung killed yet another... not to mention the member I sent after Mr. Park and Miss L/n is yet to report in and it's been hours."

"Sorry, but that still leaves several members of my crew who are innocent. Ariel, for starters," Yoongi says with a glare.

"We have no quarrel with the girl. Assuming she doesn't get in our way, we won't kill her."

"Good to know, but Mr. Jung and my girlfriend have never harmed anyone on the Council or ever wished to. They came to my aid because they care about me. Mr. Kim, Mr. Jeon, Mr. Jung, and Mr. Park would have never been in this mess if it weren't for me. They only came because Y/n did, so I ask you let at least those four go." He figures Y/n is screwed no matter what he says, but maybe, just maybe, he can bargain to save Jimin and Hoseok. Taehyung is unlikely too, but Jimin hasn't been confirmed to have killed that Council member yet. Maybe there's hope...

"If you could choose two people to save from your group, who would it be?" she asks, her bracelets jangling as she strokes her wrinkled chin.

"Y/n and Jimin."

"Not you or Mr. Jung?"

"I don't need saving," he whispers. "I think I'm more than capable of saving myself."

"And Jimin and Y/n aren't?"

"All of my friends can save themselves," Yoongi says, standing to meet her. He's taller than her by a few inches, but it's not enough to be intimidating. Worth a try though. "But Y/n and Jimin have been through enough. Spare them."

"What if they're dead?" Yoongi pretends his heart didn't just shatter. "What if I haven't heard back from my fellow Council member because she's too busy cleaning up their bodies, hm? You think two scarred adults and a child can outrun me?"

"They're fine," he says, but even he knows it sounds weak.

"What would you do if they died?"

"They're fine."

"But what if they're not? Isn't part of the mafia job always preparing for the worst? Tell me, Mr. Min." She grabs his shoulders, forcing him to sit back down. Knowing he's in no position to protest, he does, his eyes on the ground. "How would you react if your girlfriend and brother died?"

"I..." Yoongi lets his hands turn into fists, his heated eyes snapping up to glare at her. "I'd avenge their deaths."

Madam chuckles and goes back to her desk, sitting while her jewelry bangs against one another. "We'll find out soon enough. One way or the other, I'll get a call telling me bad news for one of us."

"That bad news will be for you."

"So confident. Why?"

"Because..." Yoongi stares at her, leaning forward on the desk. "You underestimate how much Jimin loves them."

"Oh, the power of love? Is that it?" she asks, chortling before taking a picture frame and swiveling it around. Yoongi knits his brows together, observing the man who resides inside the art of the photograph. "His name was Holden. Council member." She pushes it forward, the chandelier above them illuminating the smile of the man in the picture. "My husband. Killed by Mr. Kim."

Shit.

Yoongi keeps his mouth shut in fear he'll make it worse, his teeth gnawing on his lower lip. "Taehyung will be executed for his crimes against the Underworld." That was expected, but it still brings a pang to Yoongi's chest. "When we find the two Mr. Kim's, they will be executed as well. Jungkook has been put down by my team. Now I want the Kim's and the Park."

He almost jumps out of his seat. "What?!"

"Mr. Park will be executed for his crimes against the Unde-"

"Bullshit! Jimin's innocent in all of this!" He actually does leave his seat this time, slamming his hands against her stupid, fancy desk. "Jimin did nothing! He's going to get away from this mess and go raise that kid like he deserves to! I'll do everything in my power to make that happen. Execute me instead!"

"That was already happening. Mr. Jung will be revoked of any remaining privileges he had, same with Miss L/n. Along with that, they will be beaten and exiled with no money to China, forced to work in one of our factories to make a shitty living. You do get your wish. Mr. Jung and Miss L/n will survive, but they will wish they were dead. You and your little 'friend' Taehyung will be executed publicly in 10 hours, after we invite members of our court to come and watch. I hope most if not all of the Underworld may see your demise. If I'm being honest, I sent out invitations the second I had you in custody. Once we capture Mr. Park, he will be executed as well."

"Seeing as he isn't here yet, I'm starting to think he killed your Council member," Yoongi says, digging his nails into the surface of her workbench while he sits back down.

"I'm starting to think that too, but no worries, I have plenty of guards who will catch up to him and end his life." She leans forward and grabs Yoongi by the chin, forcing their eyes to lock. Yoongi holds his breath, refusing to swallow out of fear of seeming weak. "I will look you in the eyes and tell you this, Mr. Min."

There's a beat of quiet. "What?" he asks, forcing the words out as smoothly as he can.

"I will kill you for what you've done to my people. I don't underestimate Jimin's love for Miss L/n and his 'daughter', but that's where you're flawed. You underestimate my love for my Council." She releases him, Yoongi setting his jaw and holding back a scoff. "Be ready for execution, Mr. Min. I've had about enough of this back and forth. These months have been too tiring, it's time for you to get out of my life forever." She taps a button on her desk, and seconds later, a guard comes in the room. He takes Yoongi by the arm and forces him up, Yoongi not bothering to fight it. Right as he's about to be shoved out the door, Madam chuckles. "And Mr. Min?"

He turns his head, locking eyes with her one last time. "What is it?" She shakes her head, pressing her manicured nails against the surface.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you."