I shivered at the very moment I realized I was unsafe and whoever placed the envelope might be hiding at some corner of my house. But Jungkook?

He was completely oblivious of the picture I had found.

His life was at a greater risk, what if the person tracks him down before he makes way to my house? He could be shot right before he could reach me, and I absolutely didn't want to lose him!

I repeatedly tried to call him through my earpiece, but the connection blurred out before I could make a call and all I could hear was some static noise. Before he could get attacked, I had to step in and save him.

No, i didn't care if he had warned me to stay in my room. Not at least when his life -

I heard some shuffling voices down the hall after I heard my main door close. I wasn't sure if these were just my hallucinations or somebody did enter inside. I was already very weak and scared to death at this moment. But alerted, I decided to go down and check anyway. Gripping onto my gun, I took quick and steady strides towards the hall downstairs. I had purposely dimmed the lights of the room, making it difficult to walk around and identify objects clearly.

I was stunned when I heard Jungkook's voice.

"Uhm...Lalisa?" He called out and I spot him - standing close to the window in my kitchen. Just when I was approaching him, I caught a glimpse through my window - of some men in black leathered jackets running in towards a deserted alley across the street - one of them stopped midway and turned towards us, aiming the target at Jungkook who was busy addressing me about my health.

Without giving away a second thought, I instantly pulled him down to the kitchen floor, managing to dodge the bullet which sharply pierced through the window - directly hitting the couch.

Guk was shocked at the sudden jerk too, for he widened his eyes in a seemingly questionable stare as I laid over his torso in the narrow space.

"Woah, what was-" I silenced him by sealing my lips on his. I didn't care about anything else; all I needed was to make sure if Jungkook was alright. I was terrified beyond words and he knew better, for he started to caress my back while softly kissing me back a little and stepping away a moment later.

"What is going on, Lalisa? Why is it that you're holding a gun in your hand, I clearly instructed you not to get out of your room, didn't I? Then- ow!"

"Now stop your rapid fire if you want another jab on your other elbow." I folded my arms and snickered as he mockingly wailed holding his left arm.

"I swear to you doll-"

"I have something to tell you Jungkook...I think I know who killed Tzuyu." Jungkook suddenly left his arm looking all serious, his eyes looking for answers.

"Tell me."

"Here. Look at this."

I handed him the picture and his face went pale.

"Pledis...?" He asked, unconvinced.

I couldn't help but reluctantly nod. "Queen Bee, she's got a clear idea that I'm now deeply involved with Taehyung. I guess she even knew about my intentions of using Tzuyu to trap Taehyung."

"Why would she hurt Tzuyu if she knows you're vulnerable? That's impractical."

"She targeted her because she knew I had nothing to lose, Guk. Tzuyu's death....is my fault." I broke down into tears, Jungkook wrapping his arms around mine capturing me in his warm embrace.

"Why exactly are you running away from her, Lisa? I remember asking this question to you when you blacked out once but you dodged it. I want to know now." He said moments later, breaking the hug.

"I had betrayed Queen Bee by failing to obey her orders. I fell in love with the son of our rivals, a consequenceof which he was gunned down by my own hands. I ran away from the mob the very day out of guilt and sorrow and since then I'm convinced she's after me." I said with a heavy sigh, not trying to go into much detail.

"I'm sorry Lisa..."

"Don't pity me Guk. Why haven't you told me a single detail about your past? You did say you were going to tell me-"

"It's not more important than your situation right now," I heard him whispering to himself.

"This place is not safe anymore. You're moving in with me again. The person who stepped inside your house; might as well have your whole house monitored and bugged by now. Go pack up, we'll leave immediately." He said, ignoring my question from earlier.

"This isn't fair Guk. I know nothing about you compared to what you know about me."

"This isn't the right time Lisa. I promise to tell you my story if you come with me to my place. I can't stand here no longer than a minute. Come on."

"Okay." I pursed my lips back to a thin line.

━

"My childhood didn't go as brutal as yours, Lisa. But definitely I kinda suffered the same trauma as you to the point I didn't realize I was surrounded by a bad company." I sat beside Jungkook in his couch, taking his huge veiny hands and rubbing them against my palms.

[A/N: The following is being narrated from Jungkook's point of view]

"I always believed I had been lucky to have an amazing childhood. It seemed surreal; to a point I realized all of this was just an illusion. I was being illusioned into believing such a paradise in our family existed, which never was.

My appa was addicted to gambling. It wasn't for fun; he wanted to be rich within a small time frame which is why he was always out, drinking around with unknown people, betting on our hard-earned savings. He lost his job and our financial conditions worsened. Appa was blind to not take notice that we were going bankrupt, we had to move houses, my eomma's health worsened and eventually she passed away. This was when appa permanently left his habit, looking out for more ways to pay back our loans.

We shifted to Busan, where appa got into a number of shady businesses of which I had no idea about. He would tell me that he's doing it for us, his job is very important. But his habits stated otherwise. I grew up hating him more. By the time I turned 15, I finally started to comprehend what kind of business he was doing.

He revealed it all to me: after eomma's death, it was tough for him to support both of us. He agreed it was because of his mistake, he wanted to improve our lives. So he started associating himself with a number of small drug businesses that worked along ports. He grew surprisingly better and faster compared to his allies and soon enough, money made it's way in.

He progressed into creating a huge drug trading empire, business spread across continents. Greed got the best of him. Instead of having a father-son relationship, we were living like strangers. I didn't mind the distance either, I wanted a normal life. Not the hostility my father had created where he feared of not getting caught.

However things took a major turned when I matured. Around the time I turned 18. Primarily because of her.

Jieun.

The girl was a little too older than me, around 21 I suppose. But her eyes ㅡ they had a mesmerizing effect on me. Despite the fact I wanted to stay out of my father's business, I just couldn't help but get drawn to her.

She worked as a smuggler and frequently came in to talk business with my dad. I ofcourse, wasn't allowed in while they talked. But as an innocent teen crazy in love, I used to sneak in, take a glance.

All her features were beautiful. We became friends, quite close enough to share our problems. She would tell me that she took up the job for a necessity; to support her ill mother, who was her only family. Most of her income went in paying for her mother's bills. She wanted to leave the job as soon as she could. She was desperate. I couldn't care less; I knew this job was dangerous and I didn't want her to be trapped in this forever.

I started to help her out, by going with her to deliver the stuff. She saw me as a friend, but my feelings for her were uncontrollable. I was doing this all ㅡ much to my dad's distaste, who had hired a secret personnel to have a watch on me without my knowledge.

He had decided in his head that Jieun wasn't the right choice for me, given her financial stability. He started thinking of ways to separate her from me, until he found oneㅡ to get rid of her.

So he started by assigning Jieun a dangerous task this timeㅡ to smuggle two sacs of cocaine to a well known gang. I had heard from them before; those clients weren't just local mobsters but hardcore criminals. I was unconcious, not aware that I was injected with sedatives because of which Jieun had to reluctantly go alone. The next morning when I woke up, I was informed that the gang members had shot her and her corpse was found drowned in a nearby lake along g with her bike.

The moment I heard the news, I completely broke down. A lot of emotions ran in my head, my body was suffering from tremors. The pain and trauma I felt that moment was unbearable.

When I confronted my dad she simply shrugged by blaming Jieun was at fault; the mob leader found that the amount of stuff was way less than the agreement sighed and immediately suspected Jieun was the one who stole itㅡ killing her on spot.

In a split second, I knew it was all made up, there was not a single drop of hesitation in his tone. I was angry, confused, broken.

I wanted revenge. Jieun was innocent, she was killed just to save my dad's illegal business and all he did was to put all the blame on her instead of sympathizing even a bit.

So I ran away from home, into the woods. For solace, some serenity to heal the wounds of my heart. It was impossible for me to acknowledge the fact that the woman I loved was not by my side anymore. She lost her life because of me. It fired deep scars of regret in my mind, so brutal that I still shiver whenever I think of her. It took a long time for me until I figured out a plan.

The first thing I did was to inform the police and expose all the drug dealings that were a part of my dad's business. All of his properties were sealed, his business went down in flames, just as I wanted. All his associates went in jail for lifetime imprisonment. However, before his prosecution, he fled away, much to my dismayㅡand never returned back. I am still in search of him anyway, so that I can properly avenge him for his wrongdoings and death of my Jieun.

Soon, I erased all documents that regarded me as his son. I started working with a number of small mobsters who were my dad's allies. First training hard to get into the gang, establishing a strong presence and excelling my job, ending it all by secretly exposing their misdeeds ㅡ until I started to enjoy this. I wanted to forget my ill-fated past, trying to prove I wasn't a heartless person like my father was, or maybe because I was still suffering from guilt.

Soon enough, I was tabbed as a real life Robin Hood ㅡ though my identity was unknown, I was still known to everyone. Such a good riddance. Consequently some MIO representatives heard of me and I joined them for managing small missions, eventually moving on to bigger ones. Until Sehun contacted me of this mission, a first major one ㅡ but let's save that story for another day."

I saw how Jungkook was trying his best to smile, but I could see his eyes welled up as he looked away.

This was the first time Jungkook had ever opened up to me and in all honesty, I was completely blown away with how he was trying to suppress all of this within himself. A part of me wanted to hug him with an assurance of never letting him go, while the other wanted to cry with him.

So, getting up from my seat, I pulled him in for a hug. Weakly, his body responded by tightening the hug, letting out a heavy sigh as he snuggled his face into my neck.

"I understand why you have been keeping it all to yourself, Guk. Thank you for sharing with you a piece of your dark past, I'm sorry that you had to go through all of this. I just want you to know that I'm here for you, please feel free to trust me whenever you miss Jieun."

When I think of it, such a weird coincidence it was ㅡ both of us grieved over losing our lovers. I could relate to the pain he went through, even though we came from different worlds. It made me forget the whole world for a moment, about all the issues we were going through. All I wanted to do was trust him enough as he trusted me.

"Uh...since we're back to my home now, I think you should get freshed and settle down with your things, your mind must be feeling very heavy and tired now." Jungkook tried to sound comfortable, but this wasn't easy; he must be hurting a lot, even though he was trying to act tough.

Although some details of his past did seem a little hollow to me, I wasn't going to judge him for this. He was keeping some things to himself for good, I suppose. Nevertheless I appreciated that he trusted me enough to confide in me.

"Yeah, you must feel tired. I'll make something for you-" I stopped midway when my phone buzzed loudly, puzzling both of us?

Who could be calling me in this late hour of the night?

I fished out my phone out of my pocket only to find out the caller's name which was the most unexpected at this point of time.

Kim Taehyung.

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I'm traveling this week so kinda delaying updates. Sorry :((

Also planning to revolt against holiday homework because its absurd to give a ton of homework for just 4 days of holidays ;(

Until next update
ㅡAuthornim.