"Shitting hell, you could have given me a heart attack!"

"I said go and see the boy, not bloody elope with him, Hana!" Jimin scolded her dramatically, knowing that she definitely hadn't eloped. He knew she'd never marry. She didn't believe in it, not anymore.

He was sitting on the end of her bed, waiting for her - two days since she had last been in the hotel room. It was only 10 am but he was fully dressed, suit and tie ready. The nerves had kept him up most of the night.

"I just got a little tied up," she helplessly tried to explain, only for Jimin to dry retch in front of her.

"I hope you're talking figuratively," he turned his nose up and looked at her in disgust. His overdramatic reaction was met with one of Hana's shoes as she threw it towards him with a laugh.

"A lady never tells-"

Her quick remark was interrupted by the sound of even more dry retching from Jimin, who was acting like she didn't have to endure years of hearing him shag anybody and everybody through the thin walls of their old house.

"Fuck off," she laughed heartily. "It was actually really nice."

She hadn't meant to stay for so long, but Jungkook had inticed her with the idea of normality and she couldn't refuse. They spent the day walking the city wall trail, stopping for a picnic and doing things young lovers should do - She held his hand and he held doors open for her. It all felt so effortlessly easy that they couldn't figure out why it all had to be so complicated.

When she finally said goodbye to him last night, his kiss lingered a little too long and her hand rested a little too low on his torso. Inevitably, she stayed another night.

She was only able to draw herself away from the intoxication of him with the knowledge that she would be seeing him again that evening. Addicted to the high of Jeon Jungkook, she couldn't get enough of him. Like all addicts, she knew giving him up wasn't gonna be easy.

"Glad you went?" Jimin asked earnestly, despite knowing the answer already. She looked so radiant. 

"Really glad, thank you," she nodded. His permission to see Jungkook wasn't exactly something she had needed, but it had encouraged her. "Did I miss much?"

Jimin shook his head while Hana rummaged in her travel bag for her conditioner. As nice as a shower with someone as handsome as Jungkook was, his one-bottle-does-it-all shampoo and body wash combination was testament to him growing up in a household full of men.

Whilst she had been gone, Jimin too had been reconnecting with old friends. They had both had lives in the city and, despite being happy with their choice to leave, it hadn't been without sacrifice.

"Thanks for the heads up on Hae Pa, by the way. How'd they know?" He asked, referring to the text he had received from her two evenings ago. 

"CCTV," Hana crossed her legs and sat on the floor, back rested against the wall. Jimin was still on her bed, his all black attire contrasting the unslept-in white sheets. "Saffy wanted you as Jungkook's next target," she recalled bitterly. "He refused."

"Oh?" Jimin was surprised. He didn't know the guy, not really. Jungkook didn't owe him anything, so he hadn't expected that. "Guess my name will have been passed along to another Hae Pa yob then?"

Hana grimaced at the danger they were both in being back in the city. Truthfully, she didn't know what Saffy's plans for Jimin were.

"Potentially..." she dragged out her last syllable, unsure if she wanted to tell Jimin what Saffy had instructed Jungkook to do next.

"Go on," Jimin encouraged, knowing her vocal cues.

There was a pause, while Hana fiddled with the bottle in her hands. She traced the small black font, letting the pad of her thumb glide over the smooth plastic.

"She told him that if he won't kill you that he has to kill me instead."

Looking up at Jimin only once she had finished her sentence, she could see the contemplation in his gaze. She looked so small curled up on the floor as she was. It was hard for Jimin to imagine anyone wishing death upon her.

Sighing, he got to his feet and slid down the wall beside her, leaning his head on her shoulder. 

"It's like they learned nothing from Yoongi and Jin," his heart was heavy. 

Saffy was setting Jungkook up for the exact same fate as they had found. Forcing him to kill Hana would only kill him too. For Yoongi and Jin, perhaps death had been the only option, but Jimin would be damned if he let the same thing happen again.

"God, she's a cunt," he articulated, causing Hana to laugh. "He won't do it."

"I'm not so sure," Hana admitted. "Would he rather someone else kill me in cold blood, or he do it while he held my hand?"

"That is so fucking morbid," Jimin smirked. It had become common for them to joke about such tragic ends, but still, it never ceased to shock him. "Does she know you're back too?"

She shrugged lightly, causing Jimin's head to bob slightly. She wasn't sure. It would have been naive for Saffy to assume that she wasn't back, especially given their proximity to the Round Table meeting.

It didn't take long for the two of them to start discussing it. Only a matter of hours away now, they were both feeling the nerves. Jimin had received confirmation from Namjoon that everything was still good to go ahead and had spent the entire evening yesterday feeling anxious. 

It was never something that he usually suffered from, but he thought it was because of how unhappy Pa life had made him compared to the life he lived now. He was scared of getting dragged back into it all.

"Trade negotiations and that's it," he reinforced his ideas of how he wanted the meeting to go. "Send them a warning about fucking with our shipments, but offer them a good deal in return for playing ball."

"And if they don't?" 

"Fuck 'em. We don't negotiate with terrorists."

Jimin got to his feet and held his hand out for Hana, lifting her from her position. Their meeting wasn't until 8, but he was already ready to go. 

Still in the clothes that she had left the hotel in when she first went to see Jungkook, Hana was going to take a little longer to get ready.

"Get yourself cleaned up, we'll head for a mid-afternoon dinner before the meeting. I'll see if Yoongi's favourite place has any tables free," Jimin instructed her, leaving her to the quiet solace of her room.

Hana felt like she was on autopilot, not taking agency of her decisions as she headed into the shower room. The waterfall shower faucet cascaded over her like a tidal wave. Bellowing steam permeated the air, thanks to her tendency to run the shower a little too hot. If it didn't feel like she was burning off a layer of skin, then it wasn't hot enough.

Ordinarily, the temperature would have been perfect, but Hana found herself turning the dial down. She didn't want to rid her skin of her sins. She wanted to preserve the pressure of his lips on her body and the maps he had traced with his fingers. 

Once they were in the Round Table meeting, she would be faced with Hae Pa thoroughbred Jeon Jungkook. She painted him differently in her head from the boy she had fallen in love with—to her, they weren't the same person. His persona was just a facade, a business tactic—one that scared her.

Reality would soon surely set in, and the fantasy of normality that he had teased her with would be revoked.

Just like the months following the Gala, Hana let the water pour down her face, washing away the tears that had found a home on her cheeks. Like the hickeys on her chest and the bruises from his strong grip, the stinging pain in her chest would eventually fade.

How cruel it was for a heart so full to be so broken.

a/n: sorry a bit of a filler lol, needed to get you from a to b though and fill in some gaps in the plot (also, hi, regular updates again? maybe. don't hold your breath). this is super unedited because my laptop isn't playing ball so sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes! I'll hopefully rectify any i haven't noticed soon x