"i don't wanna hurt you but you live for the pain
i'm not trying to say it but it's what you became..."

"Y/N! I know you're there, I can see the lights are on... I'm giving you one more minute before I come up." Jimin yelled. I knew that if I could hear him, all of my neighbors could too. I bit my lip anxiously and glanced at Taehyung. He had an unreadable expression on his face but his hands were clenched and his knuckles were white.

His shirt was half-way unbuttoned and his hair was messy so at that moment he looked like an angry bull and Jimin was just plainly waving a red cloth right in front of him.

I almost ran towards the window, Taehyung followed me quicker than a bolt.

"That nasty bastard..." he snarled, pushing me away from the window counter.

"No, Taehyung! Let me." I begged and grabbed the handle.

"Okay, I'm coming up, but just for your information, I've had one or two alcoholic beverages this evening so I might not be in my best shape..." Jimin yelled out stuttering, his face lightnened up the moment he saw my head on the window. "Y/N! I knew-"

"Jimin, you're drunk so please go home." I interrupted him with a voice that I hope sounded deadly and cold and would make him leave.

"Uh-uh," Jimin raised his finger and I noticed that he couldn't even keep it straight. "I've come all this way, I'm not going anywhere until you come down here."

"Why have you come here?" I asked him and he pouted.

"What do you mean "why have you come here"? "Jimin altered his voice in a high-pitched tone as to imitate me and pulled out his tongue like a toddler throwing a fit. "I came here to see you. And talk to you. So come on down now."

"Jimin..." I rolled my eyes and let out a deep sigh.

Park Jimin, hasn't your mother told you not to do anything stupid after 2 am?

You'll most likely regret it.

I couldn't believe how long Taehyung was keeping it together not to show up next to me. "We can't have a normal conversation at the moment because you're not sober. You-"

"No!" Jimin exclaimed so loudly he nearly fell. "I know why you don't want to talk to me." He lowered his gaze gloomily. "You hate me. You think I'm a disgusting pig that sleeps around and mistreats people. You're not wrong, I have to tell you. I've done some awful shit. I've behaved terribly to many girls. But it's because- because of that emptiness, Y/N. Because I'm empty inside. I can't feel anything, it's like someone's surgically removed any sensitivity I've had in me. This lifestyle I've chosen for myself is like an expedition I've embarked on to make myself feel something again..."

The blond man scoffed bitterly before he spat out, almost like he was disgusted of himself. He leaned his back on the tree behind him and ran his slender white fingers through his hair.

"I know it sounds stupid. And I'm not making any excuses for the things I've done. But, you know, for the first time in ages, I felt something. You know what that was, Y/N? It was shame. I was ashamed of my behavior and my ways in front of you. I've come to respect you - something I haven't felt with any other girl. I didn't want you to know how horrible I am. I saw the judgement in your eyes, I get it. If I was you, I'd-"

Could I have prevent what happened next if I had turned around sooner?

Maybe.

Yes.

Certainly, yes.

But I was too caught up in Jimin's speech to hear the apartment door close behind me.

My mouth opened wide with horror when I suddenly saw another slender figure with a tad darker blonde hair walk out of my building and approach Jimin as if it was a lightning.

"Taehyung!" I screamed on the top of my lungs, coming all the way out of the window that I almost fell down. "Don't!"

I saw Jimin's relaxed shoulders straighten with tension in a matter of milliseconds and his gaze containing a mixture of surprise and discontentment. I took the distance between the place that I was standing at and the front door in several big leaps, jumping outside in the foyer without even locking the apartment. I ran down the stairs as quickly as my feet could bring me outside in the chilly night, praying that I wasn't too late.

The two men were standing dangerously close to each other. They looked as if they were playing the "whoever blinks loses" game, even though I had a feeling that whoever lost would be short of a tooth. Or an eye.

"Y/N, go upstairs now." Taehyung growled without breaking eye contact with Jimin.

"Uh, no fricking way in hell you're bossing me around now." I objected offended.

"Yeah, why should she go, Taehyung? Let her stay and enjoy the view of me kicking your ass." Jimin barked and my attention fell on the empty whiskey bottle that was still in his hand.

This was stupid.

They wouldn't really hurt one another, would they?

"Okay, time to break up the hussle." I raised my hand and stood between the two men. I could feel that Taehyung was slightly more angry than Jimin; the latter was maybe taking the situation as a joke too much. "Let's all-"

"Jimin. I've never seen you in a more pathetic state. Calling out a girl in front of her house in the middle of the night, drunk? I wouldn't even think you'd sink that low. Did you lose your mojo?" Taehyung was talking quietly but the menace in his voice was obvious. For the first time since I had known him up close, I thought that he was dangerous.

Yes.

No one could mess with Kim Taehyung.

"If it makes you feel any better, this is not the first time I'm in front of this house with this girl. Sober as a judge." Jimin returned the adust statement which made Taehyung take two steps forward the older man, letting out a sound that I had only heard on Animal Planet when a lion was about to attack.

Not a nerve trembled on Jimin's face, as he kept standing there, his figure proud and challenging.

"We had an agreement, you dumbass. Even with your disgusting way of life, I thought you had principles. A code." Taehyung muttered, doing his best to show restraint and not collide his fists with Jimin's face. His hands were already in position, I could see them under his long sleeves.

I frowned and raised my eyebrow so high that they almost went on the back of my head.

"Agreement? What agreement?" I interfered, looking back and forth at the two men. "Am I missing something here?"

"Don't meddle, Y/N." The way Taehyung pronounced my name sent shivers down my spine. And not the pleasant ones.

Jimin snorted a laugh which made me question if he even took this seriously. Maybe this was his way of handling tense situations.

"Oh, please. Don't tell me you remember. This was ages ago. You can't put your claim on a person, Taehyung. You don't own anyone." Then he turned his gaze towards me. Finally, I was starting to think I was invisible. "You see how he's treating you? Sending you back home to sleep, telling you not to meddle, like he's not even acknowledging that you have a free will and-"

The blond man was interrupted by a large fist landing on his jaw, throwing his whole head back, making him lurch towards the tree behind him. It was hard for him, but he kept his balance despite the strong hit.

"NO!" I screamed louder that I've ever screamed before and put my hands on the back of my head, frantically pulling my hair. "WHAT THE HECK, TAEHYUNG?!"

Jimin licked the angle of his lips that had started to bleed and smirked. But it wasn't a cheerful smirk. It was a dark sly smirk that I could predict was up to no good. He slowly raised his gaze towards Taehyung, his blond bangs falling on his forehead giving him a psycho-like look.

"Is that it? You should've worked out more instead of wasting your time spying and obsessing over-"

This time Taehyung wasn't as fast and precise, probably because of the emotions built up in him. Jimin could see it coming and averted himself to avoid the second deadly punch. With enviable agility he landed his fist on Taehyung's stomach, making him curl up in half from the pain, all the air leaving his lungs. The younger man quickly stood up on his feet and kicked Jimin in the feet, making him crumble on the ground. Then Taehyung sat on his stomach detaining Jimin's ability to move. Just as he was about to punch him again, Jimin grabbed him by the shoulders as hard as he could and turned both of them around, making himself the one on top now, putting his elbow on top of Taehyung's chest. The darker blonde hissed, his face in a painful grimace.

"NO! STOP IT! PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU, STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" I yelled on the top of my lungs not caring whether I'd woken up the whole neighborhood as I was jumping around in what I would much later describe as pure terror. "You hear what I'm telling you? Stop it, the two of you!"

Jimin had trapped his former friend in his tight grasp under the weight of his body. His eyes were the eyes of a beast, glistening with adrenaline and rage. He put his right hand up to apply what I thought would be an accurate and heavy punch.

"No! Don't hurt him, Jimin, please!" I cried out as I felt real tears coming out of my eyes making the scene in front of me look blurry. Jimin stopped for a second as if he had a glimmer of sanity in his mind and looked towards me which gave Taehyung enough time to drag himself out of the older man's grip and stand up.

The two men kept looking at each other, panting, red-faced and covered in hundreds of tiny stalks of grass all over their expensive clothes.

I almost ran towards Taehyung and pushed him as hard as I could in the chest which I could imagine only felt as a bee sting to him because he didn't even flinch.

"Look at the two of you!" I exclaimed, turning towards Jimin who had stood up and pushed him the same way I had pushed his opponent. "You think you're a couple of high school students fighting in the school yard? Is this how you see yourselves? You're grown men, FOR FUCK'S SAKE! ACT LIKE IT!" I bawled as the two men stared at me, as if they were acknowledging my presence for the first time.

"Whatever." Jimin shrugged his shoulders, already regaining his sanity, running his fingers through his messy dirty hair. He tried to clean up his shirt from the dirty dust that had glued itself on it but it needed some high-temperature laundry.

"I just can't- with you two!" I continued my rant unbothered by Taehyung's grasp on my upper arm. He tried hugging me by putting his other hand on my shoulder but I wasn't buying it. "Ever since you walked in my life it's been a fucking rollercoaster of emotions for me! And now-"

The screech of tires interrupted my train of thought as the lights of a car illuminated the dark space under the tree where the three of us had gathered. A black Volvo SUV, windows pitch-dark, made its way to us, stopping just two or three meters next to Jimin, its headlights shining right into our eyes as if we were a group of rabbits in front of a speeding car.

I raised my hand in front of my face to protect my eyes when the unexpected guest turned the car off and opened the door.

A tall, slender figure in a long black coat made its way out of the SUV, walked towards us when Jimin scoffed and frowned.

"Hyung."

The silhouette finally showed up under the light of the street lamp where I could see his face.

It couldn't be.

I must be hallucinating from the lack of sleep and the car burning my eyes out.

There, inches away from me, standing tall and proud as a mountain, Kim Seokjin in all of his glory.

His voice cut the tense atmosphere.

"Someone care to explain what's going on here? And what's with the bruises?"

author's note:

i'm so sorry i haven't updated in so long!

anyway, here it is~

i'm so sorry if this sucks, i wrote it so fast :/ xx