You balanced on the balls of your feet innocently as you scrutinized the walls, pretending like it held something fascinating.

"So...you helped Wrath escape huh?.." you trailed off innocently, hinting for more.

Tae opened one eye and stopped sucking on his lollipop as he causally tilted his head your way; a ghost of a smirk on his lips.

"Yup." he answered back easily, ending that last syllable with a soft 'pop'

You watched him eagerly, waiting for him to expound but when he didn't, you pout.

"Aww come on...You can't just leave me hanging like that" you said with a soft whine while crossing your arms lightly.

"Why'd you change your mind over one paper?" you pressed on with a questioning look.

Chim eyed you warily and stepped in. "Y/N...stop already, that's none of your business..." he murmured and you looked his way in surprise.

You frowned.

You didn't even realize you were overstepping your boundaries and you flushed embarrassedly.

It was so easy to casually talk to Tae that you didn't even notice that you had asked something so personal.

You opened your mouth to quickly apologize but Tae chuckled goodheartedly and waved him off.

"No its fine Chim, it was a long time ago anyways..." he trailed off.

His entire demeanor was still jovial but you didn't miss the wistful tone in his voice and everything you wanted to say died at your throat.

Tae gestured you to come closer. "There was a time when even I was innocent you know?..." he started, frowning slightly and you listened to him earnestly.

————————————————

Taehyung's Past

Tae tried to quietly tiptoe towards his room and he almost made it too until someone stood in front of him.

His mother bent down and scrutinized him carefully.

After a couple of seconds she sighed and tilted his chin upwards. "Tae...did you let the boys get away with teasing you again?..." she asked with a worried frown.

He didn't answer her and jerked his head away so that he could lower it and cover up his sniffling.

Her eyes softened as she looked down at her baby. He was only 7 years old with chubby cheeks and despite being so outgoing at home, he was really just a timid boy; her precious boy.

She sighed softly again but this time drew him into a hug and he hiccuped loudly at that, finally letting his tears fall.

"It's not fair...I just want to play with everyone but they say my ears are too big and that my smile looks like a square so its scary...how come they're so mean?" he asked with only an innocence a child could bear.

His mother held him tighter and patted his hair the way she knew would soothe him.

"Taetae, sometimes kids don't realize that their words hurt others but you have to stay kind okay? And besides, didn't you know?" she asked cheekily, making Tae look up at her with his big doe eyes.

"...know what?" he asked curiously, putting his sadness aside for now.

Her eyes twinkled mischeivously and she flicked his ears.

"Big ears are a sign of luck and one day you'll realize that your smile will be the reason for so many people's happiness" she explained and he watched his mother in awe.

"R-really?" He asked with a hopeful look.

She nodded happily and he brightened up, jumping forward to hug her tightly.

"I love you mom!" he gushed out and she smiled happily, but flinched when Tae accidentally stepped on her lap.

His eyes widened

"엄마 미안해! 아프지? (Mom I'm sorry! Does it hurt?) he asked with a guilty look and she hid her pain by smiling even wider now.

"No my angel, I'm fine" she whispered, tugging her skirt lower to hide the bruises that adorned her leg.

That wasn't the first time she had lied to him.

————————————————

Tae was walking back home after playing outside again and he pouted.

He stubbornly held his tears at bay even though his lips trembled defiantly. Today he was coming home much earlier than usual and he replayed what happened in the village only a couple of minutes ago.

The others still mercilessly teased him but this time, as he remembered his mom's words, he had given them a huge smile when they made fun of him and then shouted that he didn't want to be friends with jerks anyways, in order to make them realize that he didn't care about what they thought.

It had worked but he wasn't in the mood to play anymore so he decided to head back home and play by himself.

He didn't have friends but he had his mom and thats all he needed, so he quickly wiped his nose and toughened up.

He looked up to her so much; She was strong, brave, and outgoing. She was everything he wished he could be when he was older and he loved her so much.

With a cheesy laugh, he skipped faster now and when he approached the door, he made sure it hadn't looked like he was crying again.

It wouldnt do for his mom to see him like this so he puffed his cheeks up and shook his head.

A big smile graced his face as he entered the house.

"엄마~ 다녀왔어! (Mom~ I'm back!)" he shouted out brightly but silence greeted him back.

He frowned; usually she came out quickly but today it seemed like the house was empty.

"Weird..." he thought and headed to his room.

As he walked, he heard something and it made him freeze.

"S-stop...please..." a person whimpered from his mother's room.

Tae's heart started racing in fear but his feet wouldn't stop moving in that direction and soon he stood in front of the door.

"Don't touch me!"

This time the voice was louder and he recognized it clearly.

It was his mother.

Without hesitating he pushed the door open and what he saw branded into his memories from that day onwards.

His beautiful precious mother was lying in the bed, a man on top of her as she shook in fear.

She wasn't wearing any clothing and only then could Tae see all the dark bruises scattered on her delicate skin.

His mind went blank.

The monster turned his way. "Oh? So this is my son that you've been hiding from me every week huh?" the man spat out vilely and Taehyung's eyes started to water.

"Taetae?!" his mother screamed when she saw her baby at the door; she immediately started thrashing wildly from under the man.

"M-mom?..." he whimpered out and that made her snap.

With a strength she didn't know she possessed, she pushed the man off of her and ran towards Tae, kneeling in front of him in panic.

"Get out of here, now!" she whispered harshly but Tae couldn't move.

The man growled dangerously behind her and she gritted her teeth.

"T-that's my dad?..." he whimpered but his mom grabbed his shoulders painfully.

"Taehyung listen to me. Go to the village and stay in an area where there's a lot of people around okay? Go!" she hissed and then she was flung backwards.

She didn't stop there however, and she fought with every inch of soul in her body.

"GO! Mama will be fine!" she screamed one last time and with a fear that brought tears streaming down his face, Tae turned around and ran.

He ran without looking back and that was the day his childlike innocence was shattered.

If he could turn back time he would have never left her alone. He was only 7 but he could have done something because if he had...

Then maybe it wouldn't have also been the last time he saw his mother.

————————————————

Now

You gaped in horror when he stopped talking and looked away; he couldn't continue, not with the memories so vivid now.

He clenched his jaw and his nails dug into the skin of his palms painfully but still he couldn't look you in the eye.

"S-she was being sexually abused by his own father and Tae saw that?..." you thought and teared up.

The guilt must have stuck with him this whole time and you could tell he was ashamed of himself so you gently grab his arms.

He refused to look at you and you tugged even more, one tear slipping out of your eye.

Finally he turned to you and when he saw you crying for him, he froze.

Nobody had cried for his pain before....

He relaxed and his eye's softened.

You looked at him straight in the eyes without judgment.

"It wasn't your fault...you were only a child" you whispered softly and he gulped painfully, throat closing painfully by the raw intensity of your words.

He wouldn't cry; he never did after that day but he shot you a wobbly smile and patted your hair.

"Maybe...but that doesn't change the fact that she died..." he whispered back and looked away, ending the discussion for now.

You took a shaky breath. You had a clearer picture of why he became Lust and why he acted the way he did; and if Namjoon had given him information about his father, you could imagine what he had done with it.

A heavy silence carried over the room and you looked down with a frown.

If you had known his story was this dark you would have never brought it up...he just seemed the least likely out of the 7 to have carried such burdens but now you knew better...

You opened your mouth to say something, anything to make up for your tactless prodding but he quickly shrugged and shot you his first genuine smile since you had met him.

"The past should stay in the past and I had buried it a long time ago..." he spoke, thinking about what he did with the information that Joon left him.

He would take that story with him to the grave.

You nodded and Chim sighed depressingly, shooting a worried gaze to the blonde haired man.

He already knew about Tae's past but it still made his stomach queasy every time he thought about it.

You didn't want him to think about it anymore so you cleared your throat and pointed behind you.

"What's up with Wrath though? Why isn't he all fiery and hell-bending like he's supposed to be? I mean to some extent you guys feel like the Sins you represent, but he doesn't give off any vibes at all..." you said thoughtfully to the guys and it was obvious that you were changing topics but it worked because Tae chuckled amusedly.

Chim rolled his eyes good heartedly at your obvious move but answered you anyways.

"He took out all his anger before his past life ended...He doesn't like bringing up that side of him out anymore so he's always this cool-headed. This is him repenting for his sins." he explained and you thought over his words.

Everyone had such a complex past, even Wrath...

Tae sighed. "He killed a man" he admitted bluntly.

You froze.

Suddenly you heard someone sigh from behind you.

"You idiot, don't scare the girl like that. If you're going to rat me out, at least do it right" he said blandly and you turned around with wide eyes.

Wrath had heard you all.

He was much taller in height than you so he looked down at you with a wry grin, eyeing you carefully.

"You remind me of my sister, you know? Naive, stubborn but also fiercely loyal..." he trailed off and you smiled unsurely.

That was a good thing right?

"...and then she was killed by her boyfriend who was in a gang. Her stubbornness killed her" he blurted out and somehow you felt like he wasn't only referring to her...

You blanched at his straightforwardness but he didn't stop.

"We may as well get our stories out if we're supposed to be trusting each other with our lives. We can't have our plans failing because we weren't honest right?" he explained and you dumbly nodded.

So he was a very meticulous man...

He looked at the other two in front of you and then back to you once more.

"Long story short, I hunted the entire gang down and killed them all, but I took my time with him and made him beg for me to kill him until I finally gave him what he deserved." he said darkly and gazed at you seriously.

"That's why I'm here now...I took it too far but I don't regret it at all" he said evenly, as if he hadn't just admitted to murdering and torturing a number of people.

You kept an unreadable mask on.

His eyes twinkled calculatingly. "Does that bother you?" he prodded with a smirk and you thought over his words carefully.

On one hand, you questioned whether they were all insane, but on the other, you thought about what you would have done if you were in their position.

The answer came to you easily.

"No it doesn't bother me..." you admitted while shaking your head and Joon nodded with a sharp laugh.

"That's surprising, I thought that story along with Tae's would have been the breaking point" he mused and you scoffed while raising your brows.

He didn't seem to have a high impression of you.

You placed your hands on your hips. "Are you kidding me? I almost died from the man who was about to kill me in cold blood and then fell in love him anyways; never mind that he's also hundreds of years older than me..." you started and pretended like you didn't just see him grin.

"...And after he was chained and taken away from me in front of my eyes, I taunted another one of you dangerous entities despite knowing how risky that was, especially since there was a high chance that one of you guys would kill me..." you trailed off, shooting a pointed look to Yoongi who was suddenly finding the paint on the wall extremely interesting.

You raised your brow and continued. "...all of that just to save that damn sacrificial idiot..." you ended with a smirk and then took a deep breath. "So yeah, I may not have sinned as gravely as you all but do you really think I'm in a position where I can judge?" you asked sarcastically and you heard Chim snort as he recalled how he was almost that close to murdering you too.

Joon eyed you strangely. "...good point" he muttered while nodding in approval and then walked off.

The three of you followed with no other words as Tae looked at you in a new light.

You didn't say it but you would have done the exact same thing, had you been in either of their places...

————————————————

What would you have done?...

Hmmm

Anyways stay healthy and keep smiling ♥️