You observed him, hiding your surprise as he motioned the three of you to take a seat.

"You know why we're here?" You asked in wonder and he shot you a small knowing smile, making one of his dimples appear.

You blinked twice. "This can't be Wrath..." you mused silently.

He seemed so...calm and poised...not like the ragingly angry and scary man you imagined him to be.

He took his glasses off and laid it on the table that was separating the three of you from him.

"Of course. I heard about what happened to Envy and I assumed that the woman who had him enraptured would have tried to get one of us to approach her so that she could find out where he had been taken. If you still stayed with him despite knowing what he really was, then you obviously wouldn't have been against drawing us out either, and I was right because when I heard rumours about how Jimin had finally become a changed man, I realized that he was the one you drew out first. Now here the three of you are, Pride and Lust with a mysterious woman by their side. I just put two and two together. Anyone could have deduced this" He explained casually and you gaped.

Slowly in your stupor, you leaned forward and cleared your throat.

"...Right...anyone could have guessed..." you say skeptically but continued regardless.

"So what else do you know?" you asked him seriously and he shrugged.

"I know that you're gathering all of us to break Envy out, which in return gives us the chance to escape this life because we would have never put our differences aside to work together if you hadn't come in the picture. I also know that you won't be able to successfully do this if not all 6 of us agree to help you out..." he expounded and you were completely taken by surprise.

He figured all that out without even meeting you?

The other two nodded understandingly but you sat there, still trying to process the entire thing.

"...Wait, if you know that, then you also know that we need you to take us to Chrysalis..." you pointed out, and that's when his eyes grew cold.

"...Yes" he finally answered back stiffly and you grimaced; Wrath didn't look so eager to help, but since he hadn't kicked you all out yet, then it meant there was still a small chance he wasn't completely opposed to the idea.

Before you could convince him however, he cut you off. "In the unlikely event that I do agree to take you, what are you going to do next? Have you even remotely thought this through? Chrysalis isn't a place you can exactly waltz into and if you've been taking the entire thing this lightly, then you may as well kill yourself now." He said bluntly without sugarcoating his words.

You nodded understandingly, not offended in the slightest. "I know...which is also why I understand if you don't want to personally take us there..." you start off and Chim made a noise of protest but you raised your hand up to silence him.

You didn't take your eyes off of Wrath, who was now regarding you with interest.

"It's understandable that you would refuse to come with us and that's fine. What I do need from you is your knowledge though. You're right when you say that I haven't planned what to do next, but if you can tell us about the layout of where you had been kept and how you got out, then I can get a clearer idea of what I'm working with." you finish respectfully, your posture stubbornly rigid.

You wouldn't leave until he gave you that much.

He smirked with an unreadable look in his eyes and turned to the other two.

"I can't tell if she's suicidal or just courageous but I understand why you two were drawn to help her now..." he murmured amusedly and Lust chuckled lightheartedly while waving waving his hand with a flourish.

"It's not just us though...she managed to convince Yoon to get off his lazy ass too" he added on with a wide grin, making Namjoon raise his brows in surprise.

"Yoongi too? What a pity that I hadn't been there to see that..." he trailed off, impressed, with a roguish grin and he looked at you expectantly as if waiting for you to answer him.

You smiled back. "...Y/N, my name is Y/N" you said with curt nod.

"Y/N...I see..." he mused and then leaned back comfortably.

He absentmindedly fiddled with his papers. "Well, I know the general layout is still the same as it used to be, but I was only able to escape because everyone had arrogantly thought that Chrysalis was unbreakable and so they saw no need to leave any guards behind to watch me." he started, his eyes already gazing off to a place where you knew you couldn't accompany him to: his memories.

He bit his lips distractedly. "In the end, their mistake was to my benefit so I'm not complaining. But that wasn't just it...I did have one annoying brat who made himself useful for once" he murmured jokingly, shooting Taehyung a knowing smile.

Taehyung winked back in response and stuck his tongue out playfully.

Years Ago

"Leave now before they see you with me" Namjoon bit out angrily and Gluttony frowned in worry, which made his forehead crease.

"How can I?! You're being wrongly accused! We may be Sinner's but I'm not completely fucking heartless" he spat back and Joon sighed tiredly.

In their world it didn't matter if he was innocent or not. If he was accused then that was it. He would have to take the punishment.

He placed his hand comfortingly on Gluttony's shoulders.

"Do you think I'm giving up or something? Come on Hyung, you know me better than that. I'm not going to make this easy for them at all" he muttered as his mind already working on an elaborate plan.

Gluttony blinked owlishly. "Wait...so you aren't giving up?" he mumbled uncertainly which made Namjoon shake his head.

He chuckled softly. "It's already one thing to be stuck as a damn Sin; there's no way in hell that I'll allow them to put me away too" he promised and Gluttony sighed in relief.

Joon pondered momentarily and looked around his room for the one item he needed but he briefly turned to Gluttony.

"Hyung...can you find Taehyung?" he requested distractedly and continued his search, not waiting for a response.

Gluttony sighed but was already moving to the door. "Sometimes I wonder if I take care of you too much" he grumbled under his breath and shut the door behind him.

After a while, Namjoon smirked and lifted up what he had been looking for.

He held up a small bottle with liquid that glowed a deep gold; it was something he had experimented with a while back.

...and it would also be the reason why he'd be able to break out of Chrysalis in one piece.

The door to his room opened and Lust walked in care-freely. "Hyung, what's up?" he chirped while gnawing on something that made Joon frown.

He eyed Tae strangely. "What is that?..." he asked, baffled by the foreign item in Lust's mouth.

Taehyung brightened up considerably and removed the stick from his mouth. "This? This is one of the most brilliant inventions the Human's made! It's ingenious really. They put together a piece of candy at the end of a stick" he explained and Joon chortled in disdain.

"That sounds stupid. What's the point of putting the candy we eat on a stick when we can just eat it the way it is...it makes no sense...I'm telling you, they always come up with the stupidest things...

Tae hmph'd indignantly. "Well I think it's smart...you watch, years from now everyone will be eating these." he promised but Joon just rolled his eyes and stepped towards the walking enigma.

"Fine, enough about that. I have a favor to ask...I'm being locked away soon and I need you to use your quirk on the man bringing me there...they're obviously going to body check me so I need you to make sure he holds onto this so that I can take it when he locks me up." he explained while depositing the jar into Tae's palms.

Taehyung chuckled amusedly.

"I guess prison isn't your thing huh...but why should I do this for you? I owe you nothing Hyung" he hinted coyly with a smile and Joon gave him an unreadable look.

"Don't you want to know where your father is?" he whispered and at his words, Taehyung froze.

Immediately, his eyes narrowed and all the humour drained away from his face.

Without noticing it, his hands started trembling, now glowing a deep red and he stared at Joon straight in the eyes.

"Where is he?" he asked calmly but his eyes spoke otherwise.

Joon held up a piece of paper and Tae's eyes instantly dropped to it. "Give the jar to the guard and make sure he's under your quirk the entire time." He reiterated and this time Tae nodded.

Joon then handed him the paper. "Then our business here is done..." he mumbled.

Taehyung scanned the paper, eyes darting back and forth and finally he stopped, lowering the paper that his fist was clenched tightly on. "...Thank you..." he whispered genuinely and Joon shot him a measured look.

"...don't do anything stupid Taehyung" he muttered with a hint of worry in his voice.

As if those words had broken a spell, Taehyung went back to normal.

He smiled brightly. "...You know I can't do that Hyung" he responded with a falsely cheerful voice while carefully placing the paper in his pocket.

He then bounded for the door. "...But don't worry, I'll take care of the rest" he promised while waving the tiny jar and then saluted at Joon before leaving the room.

————————————————

Joon was lead down the dark hallway, blindfolded and chained.

Just like he predicted, he was stripped and searched, before being thrown into a drabby suit and shoved inside.

Despite that, he wasn't worried. If Tae had done his job perfectly, then everything would be fine.

Clack

Clack

Clack

The sound of footsteps and his heavy breaths accompanied the two as they continued walking.

Eventually they came to a stop and his blindfold was removed. It didn't matter however, because he had already traced his steps and mentally mapped out the entire route.

He turned silently and gazed at the man who had brought him in, watching him carefully and waiting to see what his next move was.

With a glazed look in his eyes, the guard reached for his pocket and brandished the small jar, robotically moving to Joon and placing it in his palms before walking off without a word.

Joon silently praised the man who had given Tae such a deadly quirk.

But now it was time to get to work, so with that he settled into the bare floor around him, shifting slightly to get his chained body moving and he shut his eyes.

It would take awhile for him to gather enough flames to make this work.

But that was something he did have here in Chrysalis; time.

He slowly shut his eyes and breathed deeply.

Slowly his hands glowed a deep gold.

He'd be out soon enough

————————————————

Now

Joon stopped and you pursed your lips annoyedly. "What did you do next?" you asked and Joon smirked.

"Isn't it obvious? After I had stored up enough of my power, I ingested the liquid in the bottle. The bottle held the liquefied version of my flames that I created after various attempts of trial and error. The liquid was 10 times more potent than the normal flames and I had kept a small sample of it for emergency purposes. And good thing I did because being thrown into prison was pretty emergency-like to me." he clarified and you gulped in amazement.

He really was a pure genius...

"And then you..." you trailed off but Namjoon nodded.

"Yes...I burned that supposedly impenetrable cell down and left the same way I got in...but it wasn't easy and I'll go more into detail about that part later" he finished.

You held him in a different light now.

...dare you say, you even respected him?

But then he looked at you gravely. "After hearing all that you still want to go? Contrary to what people think, I was only able to get out because of Taehyung" he admitted truthfully.

You nodded firmly and glanced at Lust.

"It's a good thing he's here this time around too then" you mumbled and the said man snorted while Chim muffled in his laugh, his eyes dancing with mirth.

Joon held back his smile and cleared his throat. "Regardless, I'm going to ask again because I want you to be sure. Do you realize what you're committing to if you do this?" he asks profoundly.

You open your mouth to reply but he doesn't let you speak.

"No, listen. I don't know think you understand the full extent of danger you'll be putting yourself in. The 6 of us are immortal so no matter how much of a risk this is for us, we won't die. But that doesn't apply to you. What you're putting at stake is much more valuable than anything we'll be putting. So once again, are you sure?" he demanded and this time you think over his words carefully.

The tension that surrounded you all was thick enough that you cut through it with a knife.

Finally you sighed. "Yes, yes I am sure. Would I have risked my life to confront all of you if I was going to end up half-assing this entire thing in the end, otherwise?" You responded back with an unwavering stare.

You can't recall how many times you had been asked if you understood the gravity of the situation since you started this journey but the answer to that wasn't going to change anytime soon.

He stares, his eyes still studying you critically, and then after another heartbeat he finally broke out into an amused smile while picking up the piece of paper he had been writing on before the three of you had come in.

"Well then...let's go" he muttered flippantly.

You blinked, clearly taken aback. "What do you mean 'let's go'?...you're coming with us?" you asked with a sliver of hope.

He nodded and shoved the paper he picked up into your hands.

Your eyes lowered to the writings and then widened in disbelief when you saw an intricately designed plan.

A plan that had been written out before you three even entered the room...

Your eyes flashed with understanding and your jaw dropped. "Wait...so...you're telling me that this entire time -even in your impromptu speech- you were going to come with us anyways?" You spat out irritatedly.

Joon shrugged noncommittally. "That sounds about right. I hate this shitty life so why wouldn't I want to leave?" he asked obviously and you frowned.

"Because you'd have to go back to Chrysalis..." you pointed out and he grinned wickedly.

"If it means going back to that hellhole..." he started off with a challenging glint in his eyes.

"...I'll do it a thousand times over." he finished boldly, and slowly you broke out into a smile.

There was no doubt about it, you held him in a higher regard now.

"Soo..." Chim cut in awkwardly which made the three of you turn to him.

"I guess we won't be needing this then huh..." he mused while pulling out the stuff toy from his back and holding it up in the air.

Joon physically choked. "Is that..?" he whispered hopefully and this time Taehyung snickered cattily.

Chim waved the doll around enticingly "Mhmmm" he hummed and Joon gulped.

He mumbled something under his breath.

Tae cupped his ear cheekily. "What was that? I couldn't quite hear you" he claimed and Joon shot him a weak glare.

A red flush rose to his cheeks and he cleared his throat while standing. "Give it to me now and wait for me outside" he demanded -a hint of embarrassment lingering on his words.

The three of you chuckled but acquiesced to his command

That's the softie they knew.

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"자유에게서 자유롭고 싶다 지금은 행복한데 불행하니까 나는 나를 보네..."

"I want to be free from freedom because right now I'm happy but I'm unhappy, I'm looking at myself..."

-BTS, Reflection

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