Aera's mind wasn't just a mess, it was a disaster zone.

For over three hours they had been trying to crack the enigma this mysterious book was. They had flipped the pages at least a thousand times, examining every millimeter of the delicate paper. They had tried writing in it, in hopes that maybe it would turn out to be some Tom Riddle diary stuff.

Jungkook had even proposed to bring an Ouija board, but Namjoon had dismissed the idea as ridiculous.

It was exhaustingly frustrating.

After a very intense game of rock, paper and scissors, it had ended up being Aera the one who had to go and grab coffee for everyone. Not that she minded, she desperately needed to clear her head. Everyone had agreed that they would stay together at least until the evening, put everything they could into discovering the secret behind the book.

Tomorrow Aera and Jimin would pay a visit to the mental hospital where they kept Aera's grandmother, but until then, they had to keep trying. There was also the mystery of who the hell had tried to impersonate Jin some days ago that had yet to be unveiled.

Even though things between him and the other men were far from perfect, Taehyung had stayed as well, after Aera staring at him pleadingly the whole time.

He hadn't headed back immediately after he delivered the book but instead had stayed to help, which had to mean something. She desperately wanted to make him feel like he belonged, no matter how long it may take. Namjoon had cordially thanked him, and even Jimin and Jungkook had begun treating him moderately nicely after a while, keeping it civil despite how catastrophic their last encounter with him had been.

What seemed to be yelling in the distance snapped her out of it just as she was about to round the corner and head for the lobby bar. Abruptly, she stopped in her tracks when she recognized both of the voices. In the shadow close to the wall she was practically invisible, which gave her the chance to sneak a peek at what sounded like a very heated argument.

"Tell me where he is!" Meisa thundered, head bobbing as she spoke. She had her back turned to Aera, but by the tone of her voice she could figure out that the girl was not only angry; she was infuriated.

"What makes you think I know where your pathetic brother is?" Hyukjae was laughing, towering over her as dark shadows hugged his sunken eyes. His mouth was stretched in a fake bright smile and there was an evil glint scintillating in his grey orbs that now seemed almost blue.

Something about the sight of him made Aera shudder; his behavior had never matched the situation and it made her feel unsettled. It was just plain creepy.

"I know you have him because he told me he was meeting up with you!" Meisa seethed enraged, one finger poking him in the shoulder but he wouldn't budge. "So out with it now, tell me what have you done with my brother, you fucking sociopath!" it was evident by the cracking of her voice that she was getting increasingly upset, immensely worried for her twin brother's well-being.

A cruel sneer formed on Hyukjae's mouth, his skin as pale as the full moon now contrasted strongly with his slick jet black hair. Unexpectedly, he grabbed both of Meisa's arms and pinned them to her side, his easy-going mask crashing into pieces and melting into a contorted grimace, eyes fizzing with venom.

"What are you going to do baby, call your little boyfriend? Go ahead do it, so I can crack his skull open earlier than I had planned," he barked, the protruding vein on his forehead pumping violently as his anger was progressively increasing.

Meisa stumbled backwards slightly under his weight, trashing against his arms. "Don't you fucking dare to talk about him!" she shouted, voice wavering with the violent emotion, mint locks bouncing as she tried to rip from his hold but his grip on her only tightened as the clothing around her elbows creased.

"Maybe I'd invite you to the party you know, so you could watch while your precious bunny boy is being-"

As the shock slightly dissipated, Aera went ballistic at the sight before her. Enraged, she gasped, flying forward and slamming her balled fists against her brother's chest pushing him off of Meisa as she did so.

"Get the fuck away from her, you piece of shit!" she roared, throwing another punch at his chest, thwacking him. "Don't you dare touch her!"

A flash of surprise flickered in his smoke gray hues only for a split second before he raised an arm to deflect the hit. He was much taller than Aera which gave him the advantage to catch her flying hand and twist it around the elbow, causing her to groan and shut her eyes close from the dull pain.

"Feeling protective, sis? When exactly did you two become friends exactly, care to remind me?" he grinned, widened eyes boring holes through her. Aera hiccupped, pierced by the most violent pain in the back of her head she had ever felt, like someone was hitting her skull with a hammer repeatedly. It was so merciless, she thought she was going to pass out. "Not that I'm surprised, you're both trash." he spat out, leaning closer and nose inches away from hers.

Aera hissed, feeling overpowered by his brother's fierce grip, on the verge of collapsing to the floor. She yelped, chest rising and falling as hot tears threatened to shoot down her cheeks.

Reeling in shock, Meisa gripped on Hyukjae's sleeve and jerked him erratically. "Get your filthy hands off of her, you disgusting animal!" she yelled, swinging her fist into his bicep and sending him back as he slightly swayed.

This seemingly managed to shift his focus from his sister as he grunted, his eyes snapping back to glare at Meisa. This gave Aera the opportunity to bring her knee cap to his stomach and kick him. He yelped, sent toppling backwards and the drilling pain in the back of her head disappeared.

"I will destroy you," he growled, body twisting in a violent coughing fit. "I will destroy you both, you will regret ever crossing me!" he pointed a shaky finger towards the two girls, spit flying from his contorted mouth.

It was the angriest Aera had ever seen him, breaking out of his feigned laid-back composure. Shaken, she whirled around to check up quickly on Meisa who was breathing heavily but seemed unharmed nonetheless.

The same pounding headache emerged from her head the moment she felt her brother's solid grip around her upper-arm. Meisa shrieked, rushing into the middle and squirming in an attempt to break his hold on Aera.

Everything escalated so quickly when Hyukjae's other hand ran up to his sister's neck where his long pale fingers enveloped it, applying pressure on it. Aera felt her airways restrict as he began viciously choking her, wild eyes staring down in her own quivering browns and jaw tightened. She gripped onto his wrist, but he was too damn strong for her, the lack of oxygen clouding her vision.

"Let her go! Let her go, Hyuk!" Meisa screamed frantically, grabbing Hyukjae by the wrist and yanking him back. "What's the matter with you, you're fucking insane!" she shouted before leaping forward and jumping on his back, legs straddling him, her arms throwing random punches in her blind rage, one of them colliding with his jaw and the next one clocking him in the temple.

With Meisa on his back and Aera on his front, Hyukjae seemed to be overwhelmed and his vision was compromised. The growl that erupted through his mouth resembled that of a wounded animal as he whipped around, trying to shake the girl off of his back and loosening his grip around Aera's throat. She gasped as the oxygen filled her lungs. This gave her enough strength to push him back and send him away as Meisa practically tackled him to the ground and he lost his balance before collapsing on the floor.

Stars burst in Aera's vision but in her terror she shook it off, stretching out an arm feebly to grasp onto Meisa and pull her back but she realized she was a second too late when Hyukjae sprung up with an ear-shattering howl, flipping the mint-haired girl over and sitting up on top of her. Her head hitting the floor, Meisa winced from his body weight, her body writhing underneath his frame.

Light-headed, Aera watched as he took both of Meisa's wrists and locked them together over her stomach, immobilizing her as he did so. With a banshee screech, she lunged forward and landed a sloppy kick to her brother's chest, knocking out all of the wind of his chest as he wheezed loudly. Using the moment to drag Meisa out from underneath him, she grasped on the other girl's arm and pulled her away.

Both of the girls were now on the ground, panting in both fear and shock, gripping on one another in crippling panic. Groaning, Hyukjae raised and started taking limping steps towards them, raven black bangs falling over his mad eyes as he kept licking his upper lip repeatedly.

"You fucking little-" whatever profanities he was about to spit out were cut off by someone flying forward, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him against the wall, their fingers digging into the side of his throat.

"Say it," Jungkook growled menacingly, not even a flinch of his face as he had Hyukjae pinned to the wall. It took Aera a couple seconds to realize he wasn't talking to her brother. "Someone say the word and I'm killing him right now."

"Not cool, man," Taehyung stepped up as well. "I've done some pretty fucked up shit, but even I'd never hit a woman. Not cool." He clicked his tongue in casual disapproval.

"Are any of you two hurt?" Jimin dropped to his knees in front of the girls, forehead creased with genuine concern.

"N-no," Aera stammered, still shaken. She still couldn't believe what had just happened. "No, we're fine," she glanced over to Meisa who merely nodded, rubbing her shoulder.

This was seemingly all that Jimin needed to hear before he straightened up, looking at Jungkook who still had the whimpering and kicking Hyukjae by the neck.

"Kill the bastard," Jimin uttered in the most deep, commanding voice ever.

"No, wait-" Namjoon objected, shooting forward before suddenly falling to his knees with a choked up scream.

The most ear-splitting horrible  noise pierced Aera's ears. It was so violent she had to press her palms to her ears in an attempt to muffle it. It was high-pitched, engulfing her and rendering any thought impossible. Peeking through her squeezed eyes, she realized everyone had dropped to the floor, holding their heads, a terrified expression on each of their faces.

The only one who seemed to not be affected was Hyukjae, expertly breaking out of Jungkook's grip and bolting as fast as he could. Once he was gone, the screeching stopped.

"The fucker got away!" Jimin exclaimed, fingers gripping into fists as his anger smoldered under the surface. Everyone started coming back to their senses slowly, the grunting and groaning filling the space.

"You two, warrior princesses," with a stern face, Jungkook pointed his finger to the two girls, each of them a panting mess as they remained sat down on the carpet. "Explain yourselves."

Sighing heavily, Meisa stood up and patted herself off of the dust and fixed her hair.

"Well, why did you guys intervene?" she accused, pouting as she glared at the men. "We girls were already handling it!"

***

"Another one," Meisa ordered once the bartender arrived with a platter full of shot glasses and placed them down in front of her and Aera. "Just keep them coming."

"Ms. Jung-" the boy started.

"Do you want to say something to me?" she shot him a glare. "You work for me, so you'd better do what I tell you to."

"Wow, taking care of the family business already I see," Aera commented once the bartender scurried away.

"Too bad it's not going to be for long," Meisa grumbled, reaching for two shot glasses and handing Aera one of them. "To girl power."

"To girl power," Aera grinned, throwing the drink back. Getting drunk with Meisa in the Jung family restaurant hours after they had found themselves in a literal fist fight with her half-brother was probably crazy. But who was to say what made sense anymore? Certainly not her.

Aera glanced over at the other girl, taking note that even after attacking Hyukjae, she still managed to look particularly radiant. Even though they weren't close before, Aera had always thought that Meisa was strikingly gorgeous and had impeccable taste in fashion, always dressed perfectly in contrast to Aera herself who despite her status just put on the first shirt that she laid her eyes on in the morning.

Part of the reason of course was that Meisa's family had always been in the public eye and held her to very high standards. But still, her beauty today seemed to be enhanced, the same thing Aera had noticed with the boys.

Hissing as she swallowed the bitter liquid, Meisa slammed the glass on the counter and shifted so that she was facing Aera.

"Kookie told me about Yoongi," she smiled sympathetically, placing a hand on the other girl's thigh. "I'm so sorry this happened to Jimin and you. Must have been terrible."

"Yeah, that it was," Aera mumbled, becoming broody as she slumped over the bar.

"I must say I'm shocked," Meisa said softly.

"Really?" Aera scoffed sarcastically. "Well I'm not."

"Yes I am," the mint-haired girl went on. "I remember when you guys broke up, it was back when my relationship with Hyuk was still... bearable," she swallowed heavily. "I overheard them talking once or twice, and Yoongi seemed completely crushed after things ended. Frankly, I remember thinking I had never seen him so broken, and I've known him since he was a little boy. I think that's why he kept parading all of these women he slept with after you, in an attempt to make himself feel better after losing you."

Aera was astounded. Yoongi hadn't shown this side to her even once, and judging by how he was approaching her recently, he may never.

"I had no idea," she raised her brows, a sad frown tugging at her lips. Who was Yoongi exactly? "But this was such a long time ago, clearly he's changed. Now he literally wants to murder me."

"What a plot twist," Meisa joked, taking another shot glass. "If someone told me I'd be tackling and sucker-punching my ex-fiance, I'd never believe them, but you saw what happened today. You did so good, by the way." She grinned.

"Why thank you," blushing, Aera hummed, staring down at her glass. "You know, I really can't remember the exact moment my brother went nuts. I mean he's always been a little odd and reckless, thought this was just a trait of his character. But violent? How did he become this blood-thirsty maniacal freak?"

"Beats me," Meisa literally shuddered when Hyukjae was brought up. "He wasn't always like this, perhaps there was a time when he was normal. But I'm glad he's away from me now."

Aera nodded, drawing circles with her fingers on the counter. "Enough with him," she desperately wanted to forget about everything for just one evening. "It's not a girls' night out without talking about boys," she crossed one leg over the other." So, you and Jungkook..."

"I love him," Meisa uttered right away. "I love him, and I'm going to be with him no matter what."

"Did you talk to your parents?" Aera questioned.

"No," Meisa sighed, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "And I don't intend to. I don't expect them to understand me. I don't care about any of it, Aera. I don't care even if they kick me out and take away my money. I don't give a fuck about the family business, the fortune, the mansions. All I want is to be with Jungkook. I'm done living my life in fear of what people are going to say about me. Let them throw the stones at me; I'll stand right next to my man."

Her words made something in Aera's chest flutter. The way Meisa talked about Jungkook, the look he had in her eyes, it was just so beautiful and romantic. Her emerald green orbs held such adoration for the security guard that at that moment Aera knew it; they were perfect for each other.

It also made her sad how they had to hide their relationship for such a long time. It must have been so difficult for both of them, but now they would finally earn their right to be happy.

"All my life I've been feeling like something was missing, like I was reaching for something I could never obtain. Until him. Even if it's hard, I know things are going to be alright because he's by my side," a pink hue spilled across Meisa's cheeks as she talked about Jungkook. It was cute how shy looked, like a teenage girl. "He's the love of my life."

"That's beautiful. I'm so happy for you guys," Aera offered her a large genuine grin, bringing another shot to her mouth.

"Is this how you feel towards Jimin?" Meisa's wide eyes peered at her and she choked on her drink.

After her coughing had calmed down, Aera cleared her throat nervously. "Jimin?" she arched a brow in confusion.

"Jungkook tells me everything," Meisa chuckled softly. "But believe me, even if he didn't, I would have figured it out. I have a sixth sense about these things, and I've always thought it was going to happen eventually, just didn't know when."

"Oh," Aera paused, struggling to put her feelings for Jimin into words, but it was impossible. Thinking about him was so intense for her that it was enough to make her heart hammer erratically in her chest. "I haven't had the time to think about it, but he's someone very important to me, and my feelings for him are very strong."

"Jimin worships you," Meisa stated bluntly and Aera choked on her drink for the second time. "I know that much. It's clear from the way he looks at you, like he's bewitched. You're lucky to have someone so loyal to you." she smiled warmly.

The intense feeling built up in Aera's chest hit her again with full force, overwhelming her. She paused, hoping the feeling would wear off or else she would combust.

"This is nice," she commented, taking another shot glass in her hand and raising it. "We should have done this a long time ago. To the warrior princesses," she grinned.

Meisa raised a glass as well, looking at her fondly. "To the warrior princesses."

author's note:

I literally have no idea why I'm like this lol

this was supposed to be a brief confrontation between Meisa and Hyukjae but somehow it ended up being a literal fist fight lmao idk what got into me

anyway, GIRL POWER!!  Who's with me? 💜