"Hey, Jin." Aera chimed, walking up to the broad-shouldered handsome man sitting in one of the chairs in the enormous hotel conference room. She felt her cheeks grow warmer after he stood up to pull a chair for her to sit next to him. "Thank you," she smiled. Jin had always been such a gentleman with women and just a kind person in general with everyone.

"Are you alright? I heard about the fire," Jin peered at her, gentle hazel orbs glistening with concern.

"Yea," Aera nodded. "I'm fine. Thankfully, the security team was quick to intervene."

"What was it that caught on fire?" Jin asked, his tone light as casual as if he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable.

"They still don't know," Aera shrugged. "I don't know either. It's... confusing." She sighed. It was difficult even for her to explain it to him, given the only thing in her mind at that moment was not the fire, but the kiss with Jimin. Her heart skipped a beat. Her bodyguard was still nowhere in sight. Did he regret it? She hoped not, because it had been amazing for her.

"They're probably going to find out soon," Jin uttered, his eyes falling over the folders in his lap.

Aera traced his gaze. "Is your father coming soon?" she questioned, looking around the almost empty conference room. It was still relatively early, but she was sure a lot of people would attend this horrible announcement. Her awful half-brother had probably made sure that all of their friends and family would come.

"He's running late," Jin explained flatly. "Some emergency at the hospital."

"I still can't believe you don't want to become a doctor like your father," Aera grinned. "Ever since we were little, you've always been so kind and compassionate. To be a doctor is in your blood. Why didn't you at least consider it?"

"Never in a million years," Jin shook his head. "The responsibility is too big. Also, have you seen my father? He's so overworked and stressed all the time. I haven't seen him smile in years. I don't want to be like this."

"I see. Well, you have a point there." Aera nodded in understanding as they both entered into silence again.

Movement at the door instantly caught Aera's attention. Her head snapped up to see a glowing Hyukjae come into the conference room, followed closely by a rather expressionless Yoongi, as always.

As her brother made his way to take a seat, Aera couldn't help but stare at Yoongi. Their eyes locked in a compelling gaze that caused her to set free a sharp gasp. His pitch black eyes showed no emotion but refused to look away from her.

She hadn't felt this way while looking at him in years, at least three to be exact. Their relationship left her nearly crushed in two. It had been darkly passionate, obsessive and turbulent, with them breaking up many times only to run back to each other again. By the end of it, Aera had been drained emotionally, completely broken.

The pain Yoongi had caused her was unlike any pain there was, it was brutal and yet she always went back to him in the end, craving his fiery love.

It was toxic. He was toxic.

Flustered, she finally broke the eye contact. She could still feel his stare drill into her, but she forced herself not to look up. She shouldn't look up. His stare could make even a nun feel embarassed.

Aera bit her lower lip so hard her mouth got filled with the metallic taste of blood.

"Ah, what a nice day today is," Hyukjae let out a long sigh, a face-splitting grin plastered over his face. "Where is my lovely girlfriend? She was supposed to be here by now."

"Probably running late." Yoongi's voice was quiet but soft like black velvet and it made Aera inhale sharply.

"As always," Hyukjae spat out, scrunching his nose. "I hate it when she does that. I mean, who cares what she's wearing? I know I don't."

"Mhm," Yoongi stretched his arms over his head lazily.

"Whatever," Hyukjae said out loudly as if to make sure that everyone had heard him. "Soon enough she won't need to worry about her stupid make-up and hair products." He let out an ugly chuckle.

Yoongi's eyes pierced through Aera again. She was glad that the door swung open one more time to reveal a hot red-haired head and a pair of tired brown eyes.

"Is that Hobi?" she whispered to Jin, arching a brow. "Is he back?"

"Yes," Jin whispered back blankly. "I ran into him this morning. He's back from rehab."

"He's changed his hair," Aera mumbled, observing how Hoseok took a chair and sat down lazily without so much as throwing them a glance. Actually, he didn't look at anyone. His whole aura had changed so much that Aera had trouble believing her own eyes. On one hand, she was kind of relieved Hoseok didn't go over to sit next to his old friends, Yoongi and Hyukjae.

She wondered whether they had kept in touch during Hoseok's time in rehab. Deep in her heart, Aera had always thought that Hoseok was different from them. In her head, she blamed them for his downfall. Her heart ached for Hobi. She desperately wanted to go over and talk to him, but his whole demeanor didn't invite much conversation so she gave up.

"He looks so much different." She muttered under her breath.

"Yea, well, he just got back from rehab. It's understandable." A voice to her right said.

Aera whipped around, startled. "Jungkook?! Where did you come from?"

Jungkook frowned, looking grumpy as ever. "What do you mean where did I come from? The door, duh." he uttered.

"I could swear I didn't even see you come in," Aera raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure you don't own an invisibility cloak?" she joked awkwardly, regretting her words the moment she saw he was in no mood for jokes.

"I certainly feel like it recently." He grumbled, letting out a humorless laugh.

"Finally, there she is!" Hyukjae's loud voice snapped them both out of the conversation as he spread his arms, stretching them out. "The love of my life."

Meisa appeared at the door, head hanging low and an apologetic look on her face. She shuffled to Hyukjae, wobbling as if some inexperienced person was controlling her limbs from a distance before walking into his embrace. A slight wince passed through her face when he landed a peck on her cheek. Aera couldn't miss the cowardly glance Meisa threw at Jungkook and the way he wiggled in his seat instantly.

"Sorry if I'm late." Meisa mumbled, taking a seat next to her boyfriend.

"You're just in time, baby." Hyukjae placed his large palm over her legs possessively. It was evident how uncomfortable she felt at the gesture. It wasn't for the first time that Aera wondered how could Meisa put up with her half-brother's disgusting behavior and lifestyle for so many years. What was she even doing with him?

It wasn't long before more people started coming in, filling up almost the whole room. Finally, Aera let out a sigh of relief when she saw Jimin and Namjoon enter the room together. Her bodyguard made his way through the crowd until he reached her, taking a seat on the chair next to her.

"Hey," Aera smiled at him.

"Hey," he said back, fixing the handgun on his belt. His hair was charmingly disheveled like he had been running. He tilted his head to the side, offering her a boyish grin.

"I thought you weren't going to show up," she was joking, but not entirely. She was genuinely afraid he was going to be freaked out by what had happened back at the beach.

"I always show up," he simply said, causing her to release the breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding. Their fingers brushed against each other and they both looked into each other's eyes, smiling. However, Aera could sense there was something going on in Jimin's mind but decided that it wasn't the right time to ask him about it.

The next second, the door flung open with a loud thud and all the heads snapped in the direction of the newcomer. It was a red-haired woman, but her hair wasn't the bright scarlet red of Hoseok's hair. It was a dark, seductive maroon red that spilled down her shoulders like rich red wine. Her eyes, rimmed by thick black eyelashes, roamed the room lazily. Dressed in a red fur coat, she stood at the door frame for a second, as if she wanted as many people as possible to admire her, before entering the room entirely and slamming the door so that everyone noticed her.

Aera's blood started to boil with unfiltered rage. "How dare she come here?" she hissed, her body lurching forward.

"It's alright," Jimin hushed her, squeezing her hand.

"She has no place here. She's a homewrecker!" Aera seethed, overcome by the uncontrollable urge to stand up and stomp over to the red woman.

"I don't think you should," Jimin grumbled darkly.

"Mother!" Hyukjae exclaimed, waving his hand enthusiastically. The woman walked up to him, her high heels clacking against the floor. She took her son into her arms, giving him a composed hug before taking a seat on the chair next to Meisa silently.

Aera felt like she was going to cry with rage. This was so infuriating, to see her father's mistress, the woman that had given birth to the devil's spawn, her brother, walk into her family's legacy leisurely like it was her own home. It hurt. She knew this had been all planned by her brother with the intention to get on her nerves. She was absolutely sure of it.

"Now that almost everyone's here, I wanted to make an announcement," Hyukjae clapped his hands and stood up.

"Um, isn't my father going to make that announcement?" Jin called out from across the room.

Hyukjae rolled his eyes. "I was talking about a different announcement, but thank you for ruining the moment, Seokjinnie. So, without further ado," he took a deep breath in before stuffing his hand into the pocket of his coat and taking out a small brown box. "Meisa," he turned around to his girlfriend. The whole room instantly fell silent.

As for Meisa, she looked completely shocked, terrified even. "Y-yes?" she let out in a small voice, choking on the words.

"Will you marry me?" he said nonchalantly as if he was asking her if it was going to rain. He didn't even bother falling on one knee.

There was a baffled silence, broken only by several muffled gasps. All eyes were on Meisa who didn't even move a muscle, like she had been petrified.

Aera cringed. This was the worst proposal someone had done, ever. It was painful to watch.

Hyukjae raised his brows expectantly. "Well?" there was a tinge of urgency in his voice as he glanced to his mother out of the corner of his eye.

Meisa dug her teeth into her lips. "Yes. Yes, I'll marry you, Hyuk." Her words were barely audible as she choked on them and it sounded as if she was going to cry.

Apparently, everyone else in the room took it as tears of joy when they started standing up one by one and clapping their hands, indistinct chatter and desolate whistles filling the room.

Something clasped on Aera's heart as she watched Jungkook walk out wordlessly.

***

Jungkook felt as though someone had ripped his heart out from his chest. He walked quickly, wanting to run and run until there was nowhere to run anymore, until he was at the end of the world. The ache was eating away at his wounded soul.

If only he had somewhere to hide. He ran up the stairs to the only room he felt at ease in, his only safe haven where he would release his tears and no one could see him in the darkness.

"Kookie, wait." Someone rushed after him, a small palm gripping on his hand and jerking him backward slightly.

"Let me go." He mumbled, not turning around. He refused to let her see his tears. He wanted to keep some part of his dignity.

"No." she replied stubbornly.

"Let me go, Meisa!" he snapped, yanking his arm off of her loose grip. Finally, he peered at her. She was standing there, chin trembling and eyes gleaming under the dimmed light of the corridor. "What do you want?"

"Kookie, I'm... I'm so sorry," she breathed out, her voice shaking.

"What do you want?" he repeated, his jaw clenching and releasing as he struggled to keep his composure.

"I never meant to hurt you," a small whimper escaped her as she inched closer, her hands tugging on the shirt on his chest. "I feel terrible."

"You feel terrible?" Jungkook scoffed. "Do you ever think about how I feel?"

"I do! Kookie, I do," she said softly. "Please, come here. Let me make it up to you. Kiss me," she whispered, standing up on her toes to bring her lips to his.

"No," he nudged her slightly. "No, Meisa, I can't do this anymore." He took a couple of steps back, his fingers running through his ebony hair.

"What are you saying?" her brows dipped slightly.

"I'm saying that this, this thing between us... it has to end." Jungkook exhaled heavily.

"What? No," she started shaking her head violently. "Kookie, you can't do this to me. You can't!"

"I can't do this to you?" Jungkook rubbed his temples frustratedly. "Meisa, you just got engaged!"

"Kookie, please," she begged. "I don't want to stop seeing you. I can't!" tears started streaming down her beautiful face, causing Jungkook's heart to drop. "I want you," she whispered, close to desperate.

He pressed his lips into a thin line. "Then choose."

"What?"

"Then choose, Meisa. Make a choice. Choose me over him."

Meisa fell silent, staring at him. "You know I can't..."

"Bullshit!" he cut her off, raising his voice to the point of almost yelling. "You're lying to me, and you're lying to yourself. You don't love him, Meisa! You have never loved him! Why do you come running back to me every night, begging me to make love to you?"

"I-"

"I bet you even have to pretend it's me when you're in bed with him, to make it at least a little bit bearable." Jungkook sneered bitterly. He was hurt, he was deeply hurt and his defensive mechanisms were making him mean.

Meisa's shoulders slumped, her head hung low. "Kookie-" a choked sob forced its way up her throat.

"That's all you're going to say?"

She looked at him with regretful eyes, her mouth tightly shut.

"Okay then," Jungkook inhaled sharply. "I understand everything. Goodbye, Ms. Jung."

With those words, he spun on his heel and scurried off to the surveillance room, wanting nothing more than to disappear.