Jimin's POV

"This is just wrong," Jungkook stated, throwing me a quick glance as we stepped out of the car.

It was difficult to imagine that the looming building before us was still functioning and was not just an abandoned relic waiting to be rescued from its lonely stance by a violent storm. It looked comatose. There were freckles of lichens upon its walls and its windows were grey and dusty, giving it a haunted look.

"I don't wanna do this." Jungkook declared quietly, turning on his heel and heading back from the car.

I grabbed him by the collar.

"Stay put."

"This is borderline stalking!" he whined.

"If I wanted to be lectured on morals, I would have brought Namjoon with me," I uttered morosely.

"But you brought me, and have now forever traumatized me with this act of personal space invasion," he announced, making me roll my eyes.

"You have the moral compass of a nine-year old."

"Meaning I'm pure and innocent?"

"Meaning you're fucking dumb."

"Ouch," Jungkook gave me a disheartened look, clutching his chest. "Why must you hurt me this way, Park Jimin? Yet another heart you've broken with your carelessness."

"Shut up and keep walking," I was becoming kind of annoyed with him. He'd been trying to convince me to go back since he set foot in my car and I had to stop myself multiple times from opening the door mid-drive and kicking him out of the vehicle.

"I don't know who told you it's appropriate to visit Diane's high school, but whoever it was they belong in a mental facility." Jungkook carried on trying to be witty but at least he started walking beside me. "What is your aim here anyway?"

"I'm just doing a little research." I informed him flatly.

"By digging up dirt from her past? That's not cool, Jimin."

Jungkook's voice sounded soft and affectionate all of a sudden, making me stop in my steps. I knew he was right, but there was no way to explain to him what my goal coming here was, because I was fucking terrified of how it would sound. Or it was just difficult saying it out loud, because in actuality what I wanted to do was just learn the name of the motherfucker that ruined Diane's childhood and adolescence, hunt him down and break every single bone in his body.

"I just want to track down the bastard that messed her up, alright?" I sighed, turning around to face Jungkook. "I know it's wrong, I know that, but I just can't sleep at night while knowing this man who abused her - a teenage girl, is walking freely and is probably destroying more lives as we speak."

"You can't handle the thought that he destroyed hers." Jungkook uttered.

"Exactly. I'll never be able to get over that," I said. "It makes me enraged that this piece of human garbage walked away clean from this shitshow and Diane has had to carry the emotional burden and stigma her whole life."

"Jimin, I admire you for this, I really do," Jungkook placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it loudly as he looked at me with sympathy. "But some things are better to stay in the past. It was a long time ago. At least Diane has found some way – perhaps not the healthiest – but some way to work through this and still be a functional adult. Do you really think it's a good idea to make her relive it all over again?"

"She doesn't have to know," I said, triggering a slightly shocked look from him. "Yes I know, keeping things from her is not the best way to build a relationship, but I have to do this or I'll never find peace. Don't get me wrong, I'm not so fixated on seeking vengeance. Perhaps I could just learn his name, track him down and find out he's died in a ditch somewhere. That would give me some peace of mind at least."

Jungkook sniffled, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye.

"What?" I gave him a confused look.

"You just said the world 'relationship' while referring to a woman," he said in an overly emotional voice, making me want to smack him. "I'm proud of you. You've come so far."

"Shut up." I scowled, yanking my shoulder off of his grip.

"Can I just say I find it adorable how protective you are of Diane?" he chirped.

"Can you just stop talking?" I mimicked him, matching the tone of his voice.

I picked up my pace, prompting Jungkook to do the same as he strode beside me.

"Are we sure this is even open?" he asked warily as we approached the spooky building. "Seems like the only ones who inhabit this poor excuse of a building are ghosts and gremlins."

"It said it's still a functioning school on their website," I shrugged, pointing at my phone screen where the website of the high school was. Sunny Coast High School.

Didn't look so sunny now.

"This website looks like it was created in 1991 by an 8th grader," Jungkook scrunched his nose.

The wind picked up, prompting us to go inside.

Without wasting any more time, I grabbed the globe shaped handle and pushed. The massive door opened with a prolonged creak. The school hallway was dark marble floors and white walls. It wasn't the typical brightly painted walls that embraced color and light, I thought as we advanced further inside.

"Hello? Is anybody here?" Jungkook asked, his voice echoing throughout the building.

Timid rays of light were penetrating the grand windows, our footsteps bouncing off the walls.

"I'm not dying in this horror film setting," Jungkook whimpered. "I'm too beautiful to die here among the cobwebs and the dust. My spidey senses are tingling... there's danger nearby."

"Oh would you stop it, you fucking wuss," I shot angrily, grabbing him by the collar and dragging him with me. We climbed up the stairs to the second floor, where the hallways led to two glossy black doors layered with silver letters. One of it said "Principal" and the other "Secretary".

I headed straight to them and knocked on the one that called "Principal". When no one answered, I reached for the handle and twisted it, but apparently it was locked.

I heard Jungkook release a sharp exhale behind me. "Okay, we tried our best. Now can we go-"

Without saying anything, I moved on to the next door that said "Secretary". I quickly knocked twice on it and not a second had passed before a voice came.

"Come in."

I didn't wait for a second invitation and eased the door open. There, amidst several mountains of books was a middle-aged woman wearing a pair of teashades and a green turtleneck, her brown hair tucked in a loose bun and a couple gray hairs fallen across her face.

"Hello," I greeted, flashing her a grin as wide as the golden gates.

"Oh, hello!" she had a thin voice, her eyes running through the scattered volumes across the dark room. "Sorry, we don't get visitors a lot around here."

"Don't worry about it," I smiled warmly at her as Jungkook strolled leisurely behind me, the tension removed from his body as his eyes roamed the room curiously.

"How can I help you?" the woman asked as she scurried behind the desk, her floor-length velvet skirt swaying behind her.

"We're here to take a look at one of your students' file, if that would be alright with you," I said.

"Oh!" she exclaimed softly. "I'm afraid that's kind of an odd request. What is this about?"

I paused, not letting the smile falter on my face.

"We're doing a research on someone who used to go here," I explained politely, glancing at Jungkook. "Me and my business partner here own a million-dollar corporation and this girl came to us looking for a job. Before hiring her we just want to do a little background check on her, see if she'd be a nice asset to us. Right?"

"Right." Jungkook looked confused but went along with it.

"I see," the woman with the glasses nodded slowly, typing down on something that looked like it might as well be the first computer ever invented. This whole school was like a trip back in time. "And what would be the lady's name?"

I grinned, casting all the charm I was capable of. "Diane Young."

The woman's face froze, all the color evaporating from it before turning almost yellow. She swallowed, one of the most nervous swallows I'd ever seen in my life.

"Are you... are you sure?" she shivered.

"Yes," I confirmed, feeling my cheeks start to hurt from all the smiling.

The woman's eyes jumped back and forth from me to the door like laser pointers. Sweat broke out on her bony face.

"Are you from the police?" her voice had gone a few octaves higher, if that was even possible. "Are you detectives by any chance?"

"No, why would we be-"

"Oh dear Lord, I knew this would come back to bite us in the ass," she yelped, fidgeting with some papers on the desk. "I knew it. I knew we shouldn't have covered it up!"

"Hey, hey, calm down!" I raised a hand up to catch her attention before she could spiral into a nervous breakdown. "What are you talking about?"

"Are you really businessmen?" the woman asked, her voice trembling. "You're not cops, are you?"

"Why would we be cops?!" I asked, becoming a little bit annoyed with this panicky charade. What was going on here?

The woman released a long sigh, clutching her fists in her lap. She paused for a second as if she was trying to gather her thoughts, and looked back at me.

"Is Diane suing the school?" she questioned quietly.

I stared at her in awkward bewilderment. Why would Diane be suing the school?

"Not that I know of," I scowled. "Lady, I assure you we are not cops and we're not here to hurt you. Would you explain to us why you reacted like this just now?"

She took a deep breath in, preparing herself for what she was about to say.

"Diane was an excellent student. Intelligent and energetic. There aren't many students like her around here. Everyone knew she had a bright future ahead of her. But Diane's family had always weighed her down. She had problems at home and for a long time, she didn't let it show. She's strong, you know."

"But as she entered her teenage years, she started struggling. She couldn't keep it inside anymore. She started skipping class, her grades dropped. People at this school, teachers, students – they loved her. Everyone was worried. She changed, became arrogant and defiant. She was just acting out, because she couldn't take it anymore. She wouldn't listen to anyone and go to counseling. I felt really bad for her, I tried to help her, I truly did, but she would lash out at anyone who would try to lend her a hand."

"Then Diane, she... she started going out with the wrong crowd. Naturally she was in desperate need of a support system, but she found it in the wrong place. She blossomed into this beautiful young woman and of course, men started taking an interest in her. Grown men. She looked mature, but on the inside she was still a child, naïve and wanting to be accepted, mistaking attention for love. Then he entered her life."

"The man that abused her," I grumbled sternly, reminiscing of the story Diane told me. "It was a whole thing. You're talking about him, right?"

The woman looked devastated. "You know about it?"

"I do," I said between gritted teeth, digging my nails in my palms inadvertently as anger took over me once again. For a moment, I forgot about our cover. "I want to know his name."

There was a pause of thick silence as the woman in the glasses stared at me, her expression a mixture of sadness and terror. She was so unmoving, like a statue. Finally her lower lip quivered and she inhaled sharply.

"That man... was the principal of this school."

It felt like someone had shot me squarely in the chest. My eyes enlarged. My brain short-circuited, trying to make sense of it all.

"As a matter of fact, he still is." The woman added quietly, looking like she was in physical pain.

"This is why you were talking about a cover-up before, isn't it?" Jungkook suddenly stepped in, his presence bringing me back to reality. "You meant this. You covered the whole scandal up because the principal would have lost his job. You made an innocent girl suffer so that an actual criminal would keep his job and keep on living his live unbothered!"

"I didn't want it to happen like this," the woman looked like she was on the verge of tears. "I warned her. I warned Diane, but she wouldn't listen. I wanted to help her... what was I supposed to do?"

"You should have spoken out," I accused, fury brewing in my chest. "You are a woman, too. You should have acted in solidarity and stuck by Diane, supported her when no one else would. Instead, you turned a blind eye like the rest of them."

"I... I am sorry." Her shoulders shook as she couldn't gather the strength to look us in the eyes. If I hadn't been so angry perhaps I would have felt sorry for her. She looked so soft-spoken and to be honest, weak. Keeping quiet was cowardly, but perhaps she had her reasons and I tried to be understanding of the fact that everyone has their own battles. Not everyone can be a hero, after all.

"What I don't understand is, where was Diane's family in this?" Jungkook asked. "I understand her father is unreliable for obvious reasons, but her mother... where was her mother when her daughter needed her the most?"

The woman stuttered for a moment, fidgeting with her fingers in front of her.

"You don't know?"

"Know what?" I asked sharply.

"Diane's mother is dead. She passed away."