Chapter Text
“He’s gone.”
“Gone?” You echoed.
Your eyes glaring at the man that was in front of you. Someone you didn’t recognize. “The hell you mean he is gone?”
A sigh escaped the man’s lips as this was another time he had to explain this. He was tired of the repetition. “He went somewhere and asked us to look after his operation.”
Us? You questioned in your head. “If he left then why isn’t Laine watching the bar and the arena?” You asked. As much as you didn’t want to speak to the man he was your only source of information on the two men who looked out for you.
“Laine went with him. Some business back in Chicago.” Ah that cleared it up somewhat, but why couldn’t have they told you that before they left? “Anymore questions?” The man asked with disinterest, not wanting to explain more than he had too.
“The fights are still running right?” You asked, confident you already knew the answer but your anxiety made you ask anyway. Just in case, you told yourself.
The man let out a scoff. “Of course they are. Mason would kill us if we lost him money. Also my boss would kill us if we didn’t arrange the fights as entertainment. Who was this guy’s boss if not Mason? Who the hell did Mason trust enough to run his place? That man trusted no one, not even you who he had been close with for the past few years.
“Speaking of which he is coming to watch you fight tonight. He likes to place his money on you, so you better not lose.” The man behind the counter stated with a slight grunt, interrupting your thoughts.
Oh man.. He shouldn’t have told you that. It put pressure on you to perform better in a fight if you knew someone was placing good money on you. Someone that liked to see you fight regularly. With a sigh you ran your hand through your hair. “And who exactly is your boss?” Hopefully it wasn’t that old creep that tended to follow you around this place.
The man gave a shrug, acting like his boss wasn’t a big deal. “Park Jimin.”
At the mention of that name your blood ran cold. Annoyance that had run through you a moment earlier was entirely replaced by fear.
Quickly you replied to the man with a soft, “Okay.”
Turning away you headed for the exit as quickly as you could without giving away that something was wrong, not that he would have cared. Walking up the stairs, taking two steps at a time, you pushed open the heavy metal door that marked the entrance to the underground arena.
The cold wind was the first thing that greeted you as you stepped out into the back alley. Not that it bothered you too much, with your mind focused elsewhere. Unconsciously you tugged your jacket closer to your body, as you headed down the alleyway. Your feet moved on auto-pilot, taking you to the book store you managed. Not even bothering to look at the spray paint that covered the buildings walls or the occasional person or group you passed. It was all the same. A ‘Long Live the King’ here, mafia signs there. The groups never bothering you if you didn’t bother them. Nothing here stood out to you. It was usual.
What was new was the name you had just heard. At least it was new considering you hadn’t heard that name in a few years.. It scared you that you were hearing that name again.. But you were a fool to think their influence wouldn’t have spread this far. Living blissfully unaware in Mason’s ‘Safe Haven,’ you ignored BTS and anything to do with them for as long as you could.
Clenching your teeth, eyes locked on the sidewalk in front of you as your fear turned into irritation, and anger. How did they find you? What were they going to do to you now? Were they even aware it was you? Ever since the incident you appearance wasn’t the same as it used to be. Your hair changed in length, the color changed away from its natural color many times over. Not to mention the scars.. It was still you.. but it was very hard to tell. After everything healed and the scars set it even shocked you how much you changed. Even the fire that once burned in your eyes was gone without a trace. The fact that you didn’t look like what you did before should have brought you some peace but it didn’t. The fear that was instilled in you kept you from believing such a thing.
Questions about BTS plagued your mind. Running a hand through you hair you tried to recall anything that could have given you away.. Last they knew of you, you were dead in their eyes. After all it was them that wanted you dead in the first place, or at least one of them did. So why were they reappearing in your life now? Something wasn’t adding up..
Your hands fumbled with the keys to the bookstore. Lost in thought, mind swirling with unanswered questions, not really paying any mind to others around you. As soon as you heard the door unlock you stepped inside. The smell of books, and the slight smell of coffee settling your racing mind for a moment. Placing your keys behind the counter, you let out a shaky breath, taking a moment to calm yourself more. You didn’t need the panic messing you up as you started your daily routine of opening the store.
As you feel into your routine, your mind started to settle more. Able to focus on how it was all muscle memory at this point. You started with the little cafe in the back of the store. You didn’t sell too many types of coffee like the big chain stores, but you liked to think your coffee had a certain quality to it that couldn’t be found anywhere else. Once the cafe was done came the sitting area nearby. For anyone that wanted to just sit and read and enjoy a cup of coffee. Afterwards you moved to the front bookstore organizing shelves, setting out a few as ‘Owner’s Choice’ that you liked to recommend sometimes. In the middle of organizing you heard your co-worker walk in. You nodded a greeting to them, getting a quick wave in return before they headed to the back to run the cafe.
After everything was done you settled behind the counter pen in hand to write down your to-do list for the day. Your little set up ready to sell any books you could for the day. Despite the work you needed to do, your mind was still riddled with thoughts and questions about the name you heard earlier.
Park Jimin… You hand cliched the pen tightly as your mind recalled memories that you wanted to forget. Of course out of all seven of them it would be him to find you first. If that truly was the case. If they for sure knew it was you. He wasn’t the first one out of the seven you had met.. But he was the one you consider yourself to be closest too during that time period. You never knew if he thought the same way.. Never dared to ask. At the time, the anxiety of not knowing was easier to deal with than the depression of finding out the real answer.
Well now you knew the answer.. None of them cared about you. Not one of them was in your life even slightly up until now. Did they want to mess with you again? Did they just want to use you again? You weren’t sure, you were afraid to find out but you couldn’t go hiding away.. Mason would kill you if you didn’t do your fights, he would also kill you if you didn’t run the bookstore like you were supposed to. Was he the one who set this up? After all he was the one that allowed Jimin’s lackeys to watch the arena. Was this his way of telling you to get your shit together and face your stupid problems? Or was he not aware that Jimin had taken notice of you?
One thing was for sure, Mason wouldn’t sell you out. Even if he couldn’t trust you, he wouldn’t do that to you. That man may seemed like a crazed lunatic sometimes but he had a set of values he liked to follow. And if he sold you out, then he would be losing money and that was a big no in his book.
You shook your head, clearing the thoughts away from the two men that had major parts to play in your life at some point. Despite the nagging fear in the back of your head, you couldn’t let this mess up your day or your plan in general. Working for Mason, becoming an underground fighter.. All of this to be safe. You weren’t the push over you used to be that was for sure. Yeah. You were safe. You could protect yourself.
The door dinged, and you looked up from your notepad. A bright smile on your face as you greeted the first customer of the day. You are safe. You told yourself one last time to set it in your mind, hoping you could believe it.
✦✦✦
You looked out the glass window nearby your counter. The sun in the midst of setting. Almost time to close for the day. The cafe in the back had been shut down an hour ago. Your co-worker returning home for the day, leaving you as the only one in the store.
You only had a little longer to go before you could return home. A little longer to go without incident. A little longer before you could end another day without them.
Throughout the day you had settled on the fact that they didn’t know it was you in the arena, or at least the you they used to know. Perhaps Jimin just liked to watch you fight. Once he had settled at Namjoon’s company, he always told you about how he liked to watch fights. You never knew that entailed underground fights until that last bit of time you spent with them until you disappeared.
Honestly that is a piece of information you should have remembered before agreeing to Mason’s deal. You had called yourself stupid many times today for choosing to be a fighter. You should have known Jimin would have shown up eventually, but after a few years without anything from them you gained a false sense of security. You cursed at yourself for not remaining on edge.
You stood up from the stool that sat behind the counter. Slowly you made your way around the counter heading for the nearest shelf to straighten up a bit. There wasn’t much else for you to do until close, and you could only sit in that chair for so long.
Your left hand lightly traced the spines of the books as you walked past, before finding a section that needed your attention. Quickly grabbing one of the books that got placed back the wrong way you fixed it and slid it back with practiced ease. Other books were just slightly out of order. An easy fix in your mind.
A few books were adjusted by the time the bell by the door rang, signaling that someone else had walked in. You looked up from the shelf blinking in surprise for a moment. It was rare for you to get a customer at this time. Well if they needed you they could ring the bell at the desk. You continued to straighten the books and arrange them as needed.
Once the shelf was almost done did you hear the chime of the bell at your counter. “I will be over in a minute!” You called out into the small store. Hearing no reply confused you.. Normally people would respond. Odd.. You let out a small grunt as you stood up from the kneeling position you were in, quickly dusting yourself off. You hurriedly walked past a couple of shelves before you approached the open space that lead to the check-out area.
“What can I help you wi-..” You stopped talking, freezing in your spot as you recognized the figure standing at your desk. After all this time you could still recognize him no matter what. Your hand shot out grabbing a nearby book, ready to defend yourself if needed even if it wouldn’t do anything to help you. One word running through you mind over and over again. Shit. Shit. Shit.
The figure turned towards you. That same smile, that you knew too well, on his face. The very same smile that hid lies, anger, and many other things behind it. A smile that fooled many people before, including you, but not this time. He was irritated.. At who? You weren’t sure but it was most likely at you.
“Good evening Y/N, or should I say King?”
“J-Jimin.” You greeted back, silently cursing yourself for the stutter. You shouldn’t be showing fear in front of him, but facing the situation that was the only thing you felt.
He looked down at the book in your hands, a smirk forming on his face. “Do you think that book will help you against me?” He asked approaching you, his hand coming up softly holding the book you had gripped tightly in both hands. You watched as he studied the book for a moment before the smirk on his face was replaced by a frown. Something going through his mind.
You both stood there for a moment before he pushed the book away from your chest before wrapping his arms around you. His voice in our ear making you shudder in a moment as you took in what was happening. “Why are you afraid of me? What did I do to make you fake your death and disappear on us?” He asked his voice genuinely sounding hurt, and upset, causing you to snap out of your frozen state.
You pushed him away, dropping the book in the process, backing up at the same time to put a somewhat safe distance between you and Jimin again. “Wait.. What do you mean?” You asked looking at him with confusion on your face. Did he not know? He must not have considering that his face reflected your confusion.
You didn’t even know how to begin explaining this, or even what words to say that wouldn’t piss him off. You pushed your hand through you hair as you looked down to the ground, an unsteady sigh escaping through your lips. “I…” You paused your words, trying to be delicate about the situation but at this point you didn’t need to be. One of his brothers order your death. He deserved the truth from someone.
With a renewed anger you finally found your words. “I didn’t fake my death Jimin.” You said your voice becoming stern as the anger in you grew. Finally able to take it out on those who were responsible for your current life, for the scars on your body. “You did this, BTS did this. I was attacked by one of you. One of the seven of you wanted me dead for whatever reason and they almost succeeded.”
At this point, the memories were back in your head of the event. Of how you were beaten and cut within an inch of your life by one of their grunts. How you barely escaped. How Mason found you and took you in and helped you. Tears had welled up in your eyes at this point and with the emotions you were feeling, you weren’t going to hold anything back anymore.
“I disappeared. I hid. I go by a different name. All because of you, and how I knew you didn’t want me in your life anymore. And I accepted it.” You paused a moment to take in a breath, your eyes turned up to face a stunned Jimin, your gaze turning into a glare to show him how much you resented him. How you resented BTS. “And now here you are, making me afraid for my life once again, just when I stopped checking over my shoulder every five minutes. Thinking we are still on good terms? Its bullshit Jimin. The second I disappeared was the second I stopped mattering to you.”
You studied his face for a second, watching a swirl of emotions cross over his beautiful features as he processed the information you had given him. Finally he found words. “Who..? Who ordered the hit on you? We… We would never do that to you.” Betrayal. HIs tone said it all. Whether he was thinking you lied to him, or one of his brothers did, you weren’t sure, and it didn’t matter.
“It doesn’t matter who did it. The damage is already done. BTS isn’t apart of my life anymore..” A dull pain sat in your chest as you finally admitted it out loud, your tone reflecting that pain but it was better for you this way, and clearly it was better for them. “Just… Just get out of my store Jimin. Pretend you never saw me.” You said, steeling your voice. It hurt to kick him out of your life again but it needed to be done.
“But..” He started before you interrupted him.
“Just go!” You shouted. You didn’t want to deal with this anymore.
You watched has looked at you for a moment. His eyes studying you for any sign that you didn’t want him to leave but he found none. He turned his eyes away from you before walking out of the door. The chime of the door signalling his exit from your store, from your life. Hopefully for the last time.