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18
Still Hurts

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JISOO

"With the girl I like."

He says it so casually that it sends a sharp puncture to my chest.

Of course he likes someone else. I'm sure that the girl likes him back too. They were on a date for goodness sake.

"RC, I think we should hurry up on the mission now," he says, gesturing to the various buildings we have yet to jump over in search for the tug.

Right. We should hurry because he has to get back to his date. With the girl that he likes.

"Yeah."

Without further words, I spring from the building, not paying attention to the dull ache in my ankle from the fall earlier. He catches up easily, causing me to pick up my pace.

I don't want to look at him right now.

I'm sprinting across buildings, using extra force whenever I slam onto a rooftop. He trails behind me, his footsteps an echo behind mine. I still don't look.

"Wait RC--"

"What?" I snap, turning around to face him.

We both stop running. He looks taken aback, but calms down, speaking to me in a soft voice, "We've circled this point several times now. I don't feel anything."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

He furrows his brows, confused by my sudden attitude. Only now do I realize that I'm panting from running so hard.

"I was thinking that we should head back. Maybe we missed something."

I exhale loudly, taking off in the opposite direction without saying anything again. If he can sense the irritation in my stomping, he doesn't say anything about it. We're silent as we bounce around, aside from occasional huffs and grunts.

When we approach the mall, the same one I was in earlier, we both halt. We're on a billboard sign now, balancing on the top edge of it.

"It's here." A determined stare graces his face and he squints as wind blows up towards our faces.

"Yeah," I breathe out, momentarily distracted by how enthralling he looks.

He faces me, and I quickly turn my head away in embarrassment. I want to slap myself when I feel a blush coating my cheeks. No, I am absolutely not doing this right now. He likes someone else, Jisoo. Get over it.

"Look, I think the tainted person is up there." He points to the rooftop, where two people seem to be arguing. I can't see super clearly, but I think it's a girl and guy.

"Let's go." I harden my words and descend from the billboard sign to the building below.

We both reach the mall, and with unspoken words, decide to creep up the building and try to listen in on whatever the two people are saying. Using the various signs, windows, and dents in the wall, we climb up and find a small section that has ladders.

We stick to the ladder for a moment, staying quiet to hear the conversation.

"Please baby, trust me. I love you, I really do," the male begs.

"If you really loved me, you wouldn't have slept with her." The other voice is feminine and more sharp.

"I'm sorry," his crying gets shakier, "W-we were drunk a-and..."

My heart is with the girl. It must feel like shit to be betrayed. This is further strengthening my belief that love is a waste of time.

"Where did you get that knife?"

Immediately, V and I shoot our heads up to get a glimpse of what's happening. The girl is backing the guy up to the edge of the roof with one knife in hand and I recognize them as the people on the elevator. We duck down right after, our heart rates accelerating significantly at the sight of a weapon.

"We need to get up there," V whispers, taking one last peek, "And quick."

"Okay, you get the guy away from the roof, and I'm gonna subdue the tainted girl." Repositioning my feet on the ladder, I check the scene for an opening, "Ready?"

"Yeah, as always." V sags his shoulders, "You do the actual work and I just take the guy to a safe place. Got it."

I try to suppress the annoyance in my chest with a sharp inhale. V has been getting on my nerves today. He wants to do the hard part? Fine.

"Nevermind." I gnash my teeth, "You deal with the tainted girl then. I'll take care of the guy."

Without giving him a chance to say anything else, I leap from the ladder and roll onto the roof. The couple get distracted by me, but the girl's eyes soon darken, sensing that I'm here to stop her.

Well, luckily for her, I'm not. V will do that this time.

I only see red as I stomp to the guy who's pressed up against the railing of the roof. It's probably not good to be this angry on a mission.

"Get away from him!" She charges towards me, but isn't able to get far because V jumps out and locks her arms. "Let me go! I have to do this!"

As they're wrestling each other, I start dragging the guy, "C'mon, let's get you somewhere safe."

I'm about to lead him away when his hand suddenly twists, grabbing onto my wrist--harshly.

What?

He wrenches me in the opposite direction, the windy whiplash of it stinging my eyes. I barely have time to resist because he catches me so off guard and before I know it, I'm dangling off the railing.

Fuck. He's the tainted one, not the girl.

There aren't any buildings under me, so if I fall, it'll be over. People look like little ants, adding to my fear. I shouldn't look down.

"Say goodbye to the world, sweetheart," he coos, the single grip he has on my arm loosening with each word.

"Why w-what are you--" my shoulder is gonna fucking tear off, fuck. "What are you doing?"

"Getting rid of you, obviously. Aren't you that teen superhero? It's so funny how you tried to save me from someone who's also trying to save me."

My breath gets caught in my throat, the shredding sensation shooting to my elbows, wrists, and fingertips.

He laughs psychotically, "My girlfriend is so innocent, thinking that I'd actually kill myself if she breaks up with me. That bitch stayed with me even after I slept with her best friend. I wanted to see how far I could push her. Though it's a shame that she comes back to me as soon as I pull out the knife."

His words ring in my ear. This motherfucker pretended to be suicidal.

Tainted or not, I want him dead.

But if anything, I'm the one who's about to die.

As if in slow motion, he lets go.

In the split second that I'm falling, I search for a structure that I can hold onto, but there's only sky and buildings that are meters out of reach.

My last trickle of hope comes in the form of a searing sprain in my arm, and when I look up, I find V in between the gaps of the railing, his face contorting into one of pure pain. His fingers grasp around my wrist desperately.

Still, he manages to squeeze out a small, proud smile that I can only make out through the slight crinkle of his eyes peeking above his mask.

"Got you."

The way my stomach drops infuriates me. V infuriates me. I shouldn't-- I can't feel like this for him anymore.

The man, who I now realize just got punched by V, stands up. He starts kicking V from behind, and it breaks my heart to see V get hit into the parallel metal rods.

"Oh right, y'all are a team!" He kicks V harder, aiming for the head, "Too bad for you. I guess we'll have two dead teen superheroes instead of one! C'mon now, when are you gonna let go?"

Ignoring the vibrations from V being slammed into the railing, I look around again, and find a closed air vent a few feet to the left of me.

"V, use your powers to open the cover of that air vent so I can rest on it. After that you can take care of the guy and I'll get up there with you."

Keeping my voice calm isn't an easy task; everything is shaking and hurting. I would open the window myself, but it's impossible when I also have to focus on not dropping to my death.

"Got it. Okay." He stares really hard at the opening, wincing at a particularly hard kick, "This is it. This is my badass moment."

The dart of pain in my arm intensifies along with my impatience. "Can you have your badass moment a little quicker?"

A grunt of frustration is my reply. Finally, as V gets kicked into the bars one last time, the air vent cover swings down. Although it's only a few square feet, it offers enough surface area for me to reach my leg out and drop onto.

But if I stand here any longer, it's gonna snap off.

V disappears from the edge of the railing, and he makes a battle cry of some sort as he charges to the tainted man. The sounds of punches, grunts, and various curse words get louder as I gather enough strength to jump up to the railing.

Slowly, I pull myself to the top.

C'mon, one hand after another. I desperately cling onto the bars, ignoring the numbing sensation of pain. I can do this.

A little more.

When I finally flop onto solid ground, I feel like I'm in heaven. Technically, I was literally about to reach heaven a few moments ago. Fuck, I almost fucking died -- again.

Images of the tiny people below me haunt my mind for a moment. If V didn't get to me in time... no. Not the time to think about it.

"That freaking bastard."

The shaky anger in V's tone takes me by surprise. I guess that I've been catching my breath for a while, since the man is already on the ground, clutching onto his groin although he's unconscious.

"I did it! I used your signature move for guys too!" Despite the fact that he just beat someone up, his sheepish tone makes him seem like a child who just got their first toy. "I told the girl to go home earlier."

"I can't believe you actually pulled it off." I stare at the unconscious man in awe.

"Wow, your faith in me is really inspiring." He waves the freshly extracted leaf in the air as if flaunting it.

I can tell that he's trying to joke around to lift the mood, but I can't bring myself to laugh.

My eyes are watering; maybe it's because of my near death experience just now, or maybe it's a combination of all the confusing things that happened today.

"RC? Hello?"

"Fuck you."

He takes a step back, "Woah, what's gotten into you?"

"Shut up."

His offense turns into concern, "Ay, that was pretty scary right? Look, it's okay, because I'm here, and I actually helped you this time!" he jokes.

My frown only grows, "That's the fucking problem. I don't want you here."

"RC, seriously, what's up? Why are you acting like this?"

The first tear finally escapes, and he seems to be just as shocked as I am.

"You wanna know why I'm acting like this? Because I don't fucking know, V." My voice shakes as I continue, "I don't understand myself so don't fucking ask me. You wouldn't understand."

"I never said that I would," he counters softly, "But I'll listen to whatever you have to say if you want--"

"Didn't I ask you to shut it?" Even though I'm the one spitting insults, I feel betrayed. The moment I let myself open up, something always gets thrown my way. Every. Damn. Time. "I'm going home."

"Wait!" V slides in front of me, blocking my exit, "I don't feel great about letting a lady go home in tears."

"What about your date?" I find myself scoffing, "Do you feel great about standing her up?"

He's obviously conflicted and startled, as if just remembering about his date. He shakes his head. "I want to know that you're okay first."

Those words send a rush of comfort and fury through my veins.

"So tell me," he urges, "uh, if you're okay, I mean."

I lose it.

"You know what? I'm not fucking okay and I'm especially not okay today." V becomes a purple and black blob as my vision clouds, "I thought that was obvious, so stop bothering me and let me go home." I hear myself echo; that's how loud I am.

V was the only thing that genuinely gave me hope. He said that I could make friends. He trusted me even when no one else did. He told me to not doubt myself. All of that doesn't change simply because he has a crush on someone else, but for some reason, it still hurts.

"Becoming a superhero is already hard," my anger dissipates as a heavy weight overcomes me, "But doing that while trying to save a dying family member?"

V reaches out his arms as if trying to hug me, but I flinch and dodge it. "RC... I didn't kn--"

"Doing that while having virtually no friends?" For the first time in this conversation, I speak in a tone akin to humorous.

"You have me," he says firmly, "I'm your fri--"

"Or doing that while falling in love?" My voice completely breaks, barely a whisper now. "Even harder."

The only noises for the next few moments are my choked sobs, the light wind, and the cars driving below us. With the inconspicuous moon rising in the distance, the sky begins to dim. It's almost peaceful, if not for the raging emotions boiling in my chest.

"Y-you... you're in love with me?"

Oh fuck. Did I actually say that?

Author's Note:

sorry about the short chapter! if i let it go on any longer this chap would've been like, 5000 words, lol. anyways jisoo is being pretty emotional here but we'll go more into depth on precisely why later. however, i'd really like to hear what the readers think about it; why do you think that jisoo is reacting in this way? y'all are smart so ur prolly gonna get it right lmfao.

THANK YOU SM FOR READING? i can't believe y'all are still here?? we r 18 whole chapters in??? what did i do to deserve this omg *shedding tears* i love u

<3 lalalalala7fire