Waiting here sucks ass. 

It's been over an hour since the two groups split up, and now you're waiting at the spot you told them to meet you at. Where the hell are they? Taehyung's worried, but that's natural. You're not, not yet, but Yoongi being separated from you has your heart pounding. But he's fine. He's Yoongi, he can get out of any situation. There's a reason why he's ranked so high, after all. Or at least, that's what you're telling yourself.

Two minutes later, Jimin and Ariel come over, and your face falls. "Jimin? Where's Yoongi?"

"I don't fucking care," he mumbles, brushing right past you.

You furrow your brows, the pair moving to the edge of the site. Yoongi bursts free into the area seconds later, panting. "Yoons," you whisper, rushing over to him. He's crying, the tears on his face soaking into his skin. You do your best to wipe them away. "Hey, Yoons what's going on-"

"She's here. Madam Avasa is here. She found us and disappeared after she... she..."

"What?"

"She gave it to him, Y/n," he says, still out of breath. "The kill order. He knows it was me."

A cloud of silence hangs over the two of you, your head swiveling to see Jimin with Ariel, holding her protectively. "How did... how did he take it?"

"If Ariel wasn't there, he would've killed me."

"Shit."

Jimin speaks with Ariel off to the side, you keeping Yoongi close. "I don't know what to do, there's no way I can apologize for that. There's no way I can get my brother back..."

"You got Hoseok back. Jimin will understand it was just a job, and eventually-"

"Y/n." You shut up. "It doesn't matter if it was just a job. It's not like I even killed his lover or something, which would be awful too, but still. I got his daughter killed. His child. Park Aria, the one he calls 'baby girl'. You know as well as I do he was living for that girl, and I was the one who took the light of his life from him. I ordered her execution, I hunted them, I told them how to kill them, and now I have to live with the consequences."

"You were rising in ranks, you had to-"

"Don't make excuses for me. It doesn't matter how messed up this job is, I got a 4 year old killed. 4. Not even a teenager, a fucking toddler. I was so fucking desperate to be at the top that I hunted down a little girl. Jimin was only... he was only 20." Yoongi brings his eyes to yours, tears watering there. "He was just a kid," he whispers.

The truth is, you're pissed beyond belief at Yoongi. As much as you love him, Jimin's your best friend. Your boyfriend caused your best friend to go through the worst pain he's ever had in his life. Jimin is too pure for this world. A father forced into the mafia life. Now he's more distant than ever during the time you need him most. For more than just his comfort, but his strength too. Will he be willing to fight...?

"I'm gonna talk to him," you mumble.

"He needs time."

"I know, but I need to know he's willing to fight for us. For you. If he isn't, then I need to separate you two, as childish as that sounds. I can't trust you two will save each other if the situation arises, and I don't want to take that risk."

"I'd save him."

"Yoons, I know... but he wouldn't save you."

Saying that about Jimin hurts every fiber of your being, but it's true. He's not about to let something like that slide no matter how empathetic he is. So, you give Yoongi's hand a squeeze, sauntering over to the man. Jimin's still with Ariel, rubbing her shoulder. "And when we get out of here, we'll have a home just like that," Jimin says.

"We will? We'll get a house together?"

Jimin softly smiles, but you can see the pain behind it. "Of course, kid. Wherever you go, I go. And if you want a house like that, I'll do whatever I can to get it for us."

You glance at the house they're speaking about, noting how across the street, there's a nice, two-story home with pristine white paint and a porch with rocking chairs on it. "Can we drink beer on the porch?" she asks.

"You're 14."

"So?"

"You're slacking, I started at 12."

Ariel nudges him. "Show off." 

There's an unspoken promise in the air, a promise you wish you knew. If you were to guess, you'd say Ariel and Jimin made a silent promise to stay together no matter what. You hope that's the truth.

"Jimin," you say, him keeping his eyes on the structure across the way.

"It's a beautiful home, isn't it, kid?" Jimin asks, Ariel agreeing. "We can do some work on it and get like 27 floors."

"Oh my God, why?"

"Because it's obnoxious, just like you."

"And you."

"Fits us perfectly," Jimin says with a chuckle, tears trickling down his face. You go over, Ariel backing up a bit to give you some space. "Not now."

"Jimin, I-"

"If you're here to defend him, to tell me that what he did was a mistake and it was a different him, go fuck yourself. You defend him for even a second, I swear to God Y/n, you're fucking dead to me."

You place your hand on his shoulder, him flinching at the contact. Your heart turns to glass, cracking at the tiny action. "Jimin, I wasn't going to."

He lets out a small breath, keeping his eyes on the house. "You weren't?"

"I'm only here to ask you if you'd save him if it came down to it." Jimin gives you a glance, him relaxing into your touch. "Jimin, I need to know."

Jimin goes to speak, then, he tenses his body. "You knew, didn't you?"

Shit. "Min-"

"You knew this whole time?" he asks, his voice raising by a single pitch.

Knowing that he won't back down, you let your hand fall from his shoulder. "He told me, yes. I knew."

Jimin peers at you, rubbing his lips together as he shakes his head. "You knew this whole time that your boyfriend got your best friend's daughter killed, and you didn't tell me?"

"It wasn't my secret to tell, he had to man up and do it himself."

He balls his hands into fists, glaring at you. "So if Yoongi's cheating on you and I know, as your best friend, I should what? Just keep my mouth shut because it's not my secret to tell?"

"It's not the sa-"

"No, you're right, it's not the same. It's so much fucking worse." You let your eyes hit the ground, Jimin backing away from you. "Forget it. You don't need to defend him, you're dead to me anyway. You're fucking dead to me."

"Jimin, you don't mean that-"

"I do, Y/n. I thought you cared about me."

"Of course I do, you're the most important person to me."

Jimin laughs, wiping one of his tears as he stares at the house. "If that were true, you would've told me."

"You're going to blame me for this? For your life being shit? I knew information and I didn't tell you, fine, yes, you're right. I'm an asshole. Telling you didn't even cross my mind since you were already going through enough. You're right, Jimin. And I'm so sorry I didn't tell you, that was wrong. There's nothing I can do to take that back, but please, don't end our friendship because of this. Please."

"Are you being serious right now?" he asks, pushing you back. "Are you being fucking serious? Don't end our friendship because of this? You're acting like Yoongi told on me to my fifth grade teacher about using the middle finger. Do you not realize that this is quite literally the worst thing you can do to a person, and you want me to what? Just forgive you?!"

"No Jimin, I don't, I just... I don't want to lose you."

"Then you should've thought of that before you chose your boyfriend over me." Jimin glances over the group behind you. There's Yoongi waiting there, staring with desperate eyes. Taehyung is there too, clinging onto Hoseok. "At least I still have Tae and-" Jimin cuts off, sucking in a breath. "Tae sees every kill order..."

"Jimin-"

Jimin rushes over to Tae, grabbing the blind boy by the shoulder. "Did you know?!"

Taehyung hesitates. "I did."

"You... you knew too. Hobi, don't tell me you..."

Hoseok averts his eyes. "Yoongi just told me on the plane. I'm sorry."

Jimin peers around at everyone, going for Ariel next. "Kid...?" he asks, his voice cracking. She shakes her head, Jimin rushing to her side and holding her hand. "One person." He points at all of you, gritting his teeth. "You've told everyone except the child and me. Everyone here knew but didn't bother saying shit? Are you fucking with me right now?" 

No one answers, resulting in him backing away, rushed breaths leaving his throat. You go to comfort him, but he staggers even farther away. 

"Don't," he says, out of breath, "don't fucking touch me, L/n. Don't you dare."

Ariel sticks by Jimin's side, holding his hand through it all. When him and her go to the other side of the vicinity, all of you let them go. There's not much else you can do. "Dammit," you mumble, pulling your locks back just as Yoongi approaches you.

"It's unfair to you," he says, placing a hand on your shoulder. "You were just trying to protect me. I mean really, he was literally going to kill me if Ariel wasn't there. You did the right thing, you saved my life by not telling him."

"Yoons." You shift towards him, brushing some hair out of his face with a soft, sad smile. "I love you so much, but he's right. I should've told him. Don't you think it's fucked up that Hoseok, Taehyung, you, and I all knew your secret but he didn't? Everyone knew except him. He has every right to be angry."

"He has every right to want to kill me. Truthfully, I might let him."

"What?!"

"I broke his heart. First I took his daughter, then I lied about it to his face and got closer to him. He told me to take care of you and Ariel. He trusted me with that, and right after... right after he said that he..." Yoongi breaks off in a choke of cries, you rubbing his back and doing your best to comfort him. "I deserve to die."

"No, no don't say that. You've changed, Yoons. You'd never do that again."

There's a croak of silence. "But what if I do?" he asks in a whimper, clinging to your clothes.

"We'll figure it out, I promise." After stroking his hair a few more times, you back off, noticing Ariel and Jimin speaking to themselves, Hoseok and Taehyung the same way. A plan. You need a plan before you're tracked down. "What do you think we should do?" you ask.

"I don't know. A hotel, maybe? Disguise ourselves, get a normal hotel."

"This is mafia central. If we were found on the streets of Maine, we'll be found even faster here."

"It's okay, we'll be fine," he murmurs, gathering the others around. Jimin stays notably far away from the group, only barely in earshot. "We're going to a hotel." Yoongi pauses to wipe his tears, staring at his best friend, Hoseok. "One that's basic and good for us. Only one night, then we can talk about what happened. Madam Avasa just randomly strolled up to us, gave us information, and left without trace. Why didn't she kill us?"

"She wants to tear us apart to make us easier to kill," Hoseok suggests, you agreeing to that. "It's the only logical explanation. The truth is, Jimin's an excellent fighter. Without him, we're a lot weaker. And now since we don't have him..."

"I'm right here, y'know. You guys already betrayed me in the worst way imaginable, can you at least do me the honor of talking to me like I'm actually in the room, or are you gonna keep pretending I'm not here?" Jimin says, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Sorry," Hoseok replies, wincing as he says it. "Let's just get moving."

And that you do. The trek aches your bones, sending a trail of imaginary blood down your figure. It's all in your mind, but it feels real to the point where your vision turns red. But none of your pain is physical. The realization that your best friend just cut you out of his life for good has tears falling down your face, your skin cold to the touch. 'Forget it. You don't need to defend him, you're dead to me anyway'. You're dead to him. Your best friend.

The rest of the walk contains you attempting not to scream at the loss in your heart. Yoongi's holding your hand the whole way, but even that doesn't help. Jimin's gone. The man you once loved is gone. All because of one massive secret no one told him. The worst part is you can't blame him. If you were in his shoes, you'd be saying the same things. And that only adds to the misery.

When you reach the closest hotel, you go inside, Jimin getting separate rooms much to your surprise. He got one big one for Hoseok, you, Yoongi, and Tae, and one small room for him and Ariel. You go to grab his elbow to stop him, but he's already paying using Yoongi's credit card, the woman behind the front desk barely glancing at your group. And after, you're striding down the halls of the first floor, you going up to Jimin.

"Why would you do that? We should stick together," you say.

Jimin gives you a smile as he halts at his door, him unlocking it and throwing it open. He takes Ariel's hand. "We are." Then, the door slams in your face.

Yoongi rubs your arm upon seeing the exchange, your room down the hall from his. God, he didn't even want your rooms next to each other. "What do we do now?" you ask in a hush, attempting not to cry again. Yoongi kisses your hand, rubbing over the skin while Hoseok guides Taehyung down to your new abode. You follow them, your pace much slower than theirs. Yoongi sighs.

"I have no fucking idea."