I Was Too Stressed And Mindlessly Scribbled "I Can't Do This Anymore!" In The Back Of My Notebook.

Happy Friday everyone!

When We Were Young

This is for you, my dearest friend @tanikas-world-of-art​. I hope you get better soon. Let me know if you want some more of this.

My nerves were wracking as I waited on the carriage. The road seemed longer than I remembered. “Is it the road? Or is it my heart that has been longing for him for such a long time?”

Dorian and I were neighbours and inseparable when we were little. Whenever one of us would go missing, it was assumed that they would be found in the other’s place. Dorian would never eat unless with me. He would trust me with every little secret of his. In a whole, he was too clingy and very dear to me.

Everything was neat until his grandfather sent him away to the boarding school and I was taken to Sussex to my grandmother’s house where I was trained to become a lady. My heart shattered into pieces. I missed Dorian every single day growing up and I was pretty sure he did too.

It had been ten long years. Finally, I was going back to London to meet him and I could not wait any longer.

“Lady y/n, we’ve arrived.” I jumped out of the carriage as soon as the driver announced our arrival.

Dorian was waiting outside his house to welcome me. I could not believe what I saw in front of me. The evening air blew his hair. He had grew up to become the handsomest man I had ever seen. I looked in amazement.

“Well, well, if it isn’t my dearest friend.” Dorian’s beautiful face broke into a wide smile.

My stomach twisted. Butterflies were flying like crazy to make an escape. My heavy heart started to beat up to my throat. Without a minute’s delay, I ran and put my arms around him. We both couldn’t help laughing.

Noona! Please! Help! - Part 2

Fandom: BTS Characters: Younger Brothers BTS and Elder Sister Narrator Genre: A Little Dramatic and A Little Comedic Word Count: 1.3K Words Warning: Mention of other idols such as Lisa and Ryujin, tearing down clothes, breakdown, crying etc. Note: It’s a siblings AU story of BTS with the narrator as their elder sister. I tried to write something different from what I usually write about. I had fun making this. Hope it makes you feel good too. Happy Reading Everyone :)

Summary: Her little brothers can’t attend to a single task without her help. Be it a dance competition or asking out a girl for a date, they always seem to be finding everything too hard to go through without her by their side. ‘Our lucky charm’; that’s what they like to call her. But what if she turns out to be a misfortune in different situations in one single day?

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - More to come

Not Really the Best Dancer:

06:45 a.m. 1st September, 2015

I still have more than an hour before Hobi’s aka Hoseok’s dance starts. So, I decided to take a shower and apply some light makeup that would suit all the occasions I am to participate in. I had taken a day off work today. Because, I’m about to meet my seven little brothers, that too, at different times in one single day.

I make a mental note of my schedule and get out of my house (Sorry, it’s actually my granma's house) 10 minutes prior to Hobi’s dance. He is going to participate in the finale of the dance competition he had been practicing for for the last three years. Though a little nervous, I’m pretty positive he is going to win. I mean, why not? He’s the best dancer I have ever seen.

“Come here!” Hobi waves his hand while talking to me on the phone. I go straight to him pushing the crowd ahead of me.

“You should have hurried, Noona!” Hobi says with a pout, “I have to go change. The show’s starting.”

“Alright!” I tell him, “Go on, then. I’ll be cheering you on from the crowd. Are you nervous?”

“Nah!” Hobi dismisses the question with a slight wave of his hand and by putting a bright smile on his face, “Why would I be? I’ve got you.”

I take his hands in mine, clearly noticing the sweaty palms, “Fighting!”

“Fighting!” with a little shake of the hands he disappears inside the dressing room.

Lisa starts her performance with a loud applause from the crowd. I had watched some of the previous dance performances of others in the videos Hoseok brought home for me to see. But I don’t remember watching any of her. Watching her perform live in front of me makes me a little nervous. She has one of the best body controls. And it is definitely something to worry about.

The next participant gets as much cheers from the crowd as her previous competitor. Her name’s Ryujin and I had seen her collaborating with Hobi before. I liked that dance so much at the time. Now, I’m not really sure I’m liking her moves. Of course, she can dance. And that is exactly my problem.

Finally, Hoseok takes the stage as ‘J-Hope’ and the crowd bursts into loud screams from the enthusiasts. All my anxieties take some rest. But as soon as he starts to move along the beat, I feel like I’m holding my breath. As if that would ensure his perfect performance.

Everything goes smoothly until at a point Hoseok rips off his shirt; earning more screams from the audience. I’m shocked at the revelation. Is it a mistake? I mean, Hoseok would never do that. Once he had told me himself that he doesn’t like showing much skin. It’s the choreography that matters more to him.

But it seems like I’m the only one who’s confused. Others around me seem to be enjoying the dance along with that little distraction that he made. However, I gather myself just before the end so that I don’t forget to cheer and clap the loudest for my little Hobi.

There’s a thirty minute break before they announce the winner of the long one month competition. I check my phone and gasp.

Three missed calls from Yoongi.

I check the time. It’s already 8:48 a.m. Yoongi’s game starts at 8:30 a.m. I was supposed to be with him now. I look out for Hobi.

“You did great!” I compliment him hurriedly.

“Thanks but…” Hobi frowns.

“What’s the matter?” I take a closer look at his sweaty face.

“It’s just that” Hobi continues, “I feel like I made a mistake.”

My phone rings before I could tell him anything. It’s Yoongi again.

“Umm…” I hesitate before speaking, “I still believe you’re going to win. Hobi… Please don’t mind but… I really have to be somewhere now.”

“What?” Hobi looks up, “No way! Wait for the announcement at least. Please, Noona! You promised!”

“I promised I will watch you perform. And I did that. Besides, you didn’t mention the results will take that long to be announced. I have to meet Yoongi. Apparently he has an important match too.”

Hobi scoffs, “As if he’s the one playing.”

I can sense the anger rising within him. First of all, he’s upset about some mistakes that he made. Now that I’ve mentioned Yoongi, he’s definitely pissed. Hoseok never liked the fact that Yoongi bets money on basketball matches. According to him, “It’s a waste of money if you lose. And a waste of character if you win.”

“You can go if you want.” Hobi says finally, “It’s not even a huge deal.”

I know he doesn’t mean that. It is in fact a huge deal for him. My common sense tells me it is better to deal with an angry Yoongi than with an angry Hoseok.

I smile and pull him into a hug. He’s surprised by my sudden action. “What’re you doing?”

“Don’t worry!” I say, “Noona will stay so that you win.”

“Oh yeah!” Hobi hugs me back, “Then, I’ll definitely win.”

“I’ll be there as soon as it ends.” I yell at Yoongi through my phone because of the loud audience around me.

“Yeah, take your time.” Yoongi says bitterly, “Looks like Hoba is in need of some luck more than I do today. ‘Cause we’re already winning.” Then, he cuts the line.

I don’t have the time to think about his last remark. The three participants walk to the stage and the crowd cheers louder, as if it is even possible. I cheer for Hobi too, mentally praying to God that my little brother gets the fruit that he’s been nurturing for so long.

With some dramatic speeches and hearts beating up to our throats, the result is finally revealed. And J-Hope is not the winner.

Looks like Ryujin outdid the others this time and she is as shocked as I am to find it out. Both Lisa and Hobi are clapping with bright smiles on their faces. They are both bowing to Ryujin, who in turn is bowing to them. The flower bouquet is presented to her and the rest of the celebration goes on in blur.

I went backstage to meet Hobi. But I only see two girls hugging and complimenting each other. Hobi is nowhere to be seen. I look through the dressing room and he’s not there.

I decide to peek at the boy’s bathroom to check and I sigh in relief. Hobi is bending towards the basin, his hands covering the face while the faucet runs beneath.

“Hobi!” I call him softly.

“Please, Noona!” His voice cracks as he tries to speak, “Just give me some time. I promise I’ll be okay. Just some time is all I need.”

Contemplating on why it is hard for me to believe that he is crying out of failure, I find that it is because I had never experienced Hoseok openly displaying sadness before. He was always the ray of sunshine, the restless butterfly or the sweet smelling flower of our family. As if it is what’s expected of him.

Even right now, in such a vulnerable state of mind, he doesn’t seem to be trusting me enough to have confided in me. Instead, he’s willing to go through a breakdown all alone until he’s ready to smile brightly again.

I am dumbfounded. I feel like I need to tell him something, comfort him and let him know that he’s not here alone. I want to make him feel that it's okay to fail. That he’s still loved and that’s what should matter the most.

My phone rings in my pocket once again and Hoseok looks up from the sink. With teary red eyes he says, “It must be Yoongi Hyung. Don’t make him wait any longer. Just go. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, confused.

“I guess,” he sniffs, “I accept my defeat. Maybe, I’m not really the best dancer that you used to think I am.”

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Tag List:  @sophiatcha,  @lalavione1309,  @jwirecs,  @missmayaarmy,  @sarai-ibn-la-ahad,  @ayalies,  @karougirl123,  @juju-227592,  @coffeepurpleu,  @dreamerwasfound,  @wetfeline,  @phthao2406, @hoshi-is-ult-bbg, @bestloverstan,  @quixoticbittersweet,  @jwirecs-main,  @singukieee,  @l3aecon,  @bangtandoll20,  @gabcats5,  @latina-girl-18,  @kyuupidwrites

How Hatred Starts

I just realized why people hate each other.

Once someone sees the worst side of another and continues to judge them by it, they eventually starts hating the latter.

Suppose the person A knows the worst mistake the person B has made in their life and judge their (B) every action based on the knowledge they (A) acquired, they (A) starts to hate them (B). In turn, the person B also tries to find the worst of the person A and starts to hate them as well.

This is how it goes on and none of them ever tries to find the person behind all that mistakes and weaknesses.

We Are Only Seven - Chapter 8

Fandom: BTS Characters: OT7 (Devil!Namjoon, Demigod!Seokjin, Wizard!Yoongi, Angel!Hoseok, Werewolf!Taehyung, Gumiho!Jimin, Vampire!Jungkook) For a visual representation check these >>> VMinKook & NamJinSope Warning: Imprisonment, mention of suicide, betrayal, heartbreak, angst, slight swearing, mild battle and violence. Word Count: 2k Words

Summary: In a world ruled by humans, the other worldly, non-humans are in hiding. But how long will it last this way?

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10  [Complete]

Yoongi knew the way to the cell where they kept their new prisoners. He disguised himself in the form of a guard and made his way to Hoseok. As he reached the dim lighted room, the first thing that caught his eyes were Hoseok’s huge white wings. He was curled up inside it and sleeping rather peacefully.

“Hoseok!” Yoongi whispered, not wanting to alarm the guards outside, “Hoseok, wake up!”

Hoseok opened his eyes and looked at Yoongi with confusion. Yoongi feared that he might start shouting at him again and give away their position. But instead, Hoseok jumped to his feet in excitement and came to hug him through the bars.

“Oh, Yoongi!” Hoseok said, “I’m so sorry to have flown away like that. I was being irrational. I should have listened to you.”

“Ssh!” Yoongi hushed him down, “We’ll talk later. I’m going to get you out of here.” Hoseok nodded.

Yoongi noticed that instead of regular lock in the bars, they had put a spell on it, which Yoongi knows pretty well how to undone. It would take some time but it could be done. Yoongi started to draw some letters in the air and they started to glow. The dark room was filled with colorful lights from them.

After almost half an hour, all the glowing letters merged into one and the door opened. Hoseok gasped at the sight of it. He was about to appreciate the skill when there was a clap in front of him behind Yoongi. Both of them yelped in fright.

Kim Joon-Hwi stood there along with his guards and wizards. “Welcome back, Min Yoongi.” He said.

They had been caught. There was only one way Yoongi could delay their inevitable fate. Delay, but not wholly diminish it. Yoongi got inside the cell with Hoseok and produced a purple aurora all around it by a wave of his hand.

Kim Joon-Hwi and his guards looked puzzled. One of the wizards came forward and whispered something on Kim Joon-Hwi’s ear. He let out a chuckle, “Are you trying to shield yourself inside that cell?”

Yoongi didn’t answer. Kim Joon-Hwi shook his head, “How long do you think you can continue this way? You are now my prisoners. And I will get to you soon.”

“If it weren’t for my stupidity, we wouldn’t have ended up in here.” Hoseok said.

“The fault is mine.” Yoongi said, “I shouldn’t have kept secrets from you.”

They sat on the floor of the cell that was currently glowing through the light of the aurora produced by Yoongi. Two guards and a wizard were keeping watch at them.

Hoseok sighed deeply, “I learned what had happened to my friend. But I don’t blame you. You did everything you could. It was his fate.”

Yoongi couldn’t bring himself to say anything. Hoseok continued, ‘’But I’m not as brave as he was. I can’t take my own life. They…They will take away my wings. And then…” Hoseok suddenly burst into tears.

Yoongi went to sit closer. He put his hand on Hoseok’s shoulder and said, “I promise, I won’t let that happen to you.”

“But how?” Hoseok asked while wiping a tear from his cheek.

Suddenly, a big black wolf jumped at the guarding wizard out of nowhere. Yoongi smirked at a shocked Hoseok, “They are here!” As planned, the ‘Bulletproof’ boys had come to their rescue and they had managed to knock out the guards and the wizard.

“Missed us?” Namjoon asked Hoseok sarcastically which made him laugh out in excitement.

They got out of the cell as quietly as possible without raising any alarm in the other OHA members outside. But it would be rather hard for seven people to sneak out of this huge place without being seen.

“I know a dark tunnel that can lead us outside.” Seokjin suggested, “I used that last time I was here to get out.”

So, Seokjin lead them through a door that said ‘Staff Only’ and once they got inside it, it was all dark. “Keep going straight.” Seokjin said and they followed.

They had been walking through it for some time, when Namjoon asked, “Are you sure, this is the right way?” But Seokjin didn’t reply.

They got hit by the wall in front of them announcing that it was a dead end. “What the…” Jimin was about to swear when the lights were turned on. As they looked back they found out that they were inside a huge cage, locked up. And Seokjin was standing outside of it.

One by one, the realization hit them; Seokjin had betrayed them. Now, they were all caught by the OHA. All of them at once.

Jungkook grabbed onto the bars of the cage, his eyes full of pain. He called, “Hyung!”

Seokjin looked away as tears started to prickle his eyes. He said before leaving, “I’m sorry, guys. I had to do it.”

The day they had come to abduct the ‘Master of Shadow’ and Seokjin had followed a guard inside the facility, something happened; which was beyond the other’s knowledge.

Seokjin ran after the guard and soon got hold of him. But he was an excellent fighter. When the guard injured one of Seokjin’s legs, Seokjin panicked and hit his head with a statue nearby. Immediately, the guard dropped dead.

It was the first time, Seokjin had killed. He kneeled down to inquire if the guard was really dead or not when he heard a voice from behind, “How did you get inside?”

Seokjin froze. The voice sounded familiar. It sent a shiver down his spine. What he saw before him as he looked back was something truly astonishing. Seokjin couldn’t believe his own eyes.

“Father?” he called, with uncertainty.

Kim Joon-Hwi looked at Seokjin for a moment. Then, recognition came to his eyes. He called back, “Seokjin!” He came forward and embraced him, “Oh, my son!” and patted his back.

“I’ve found you, father.” Seokjin said, fighting back tears.

“How are you?” Kim Joon-Hwi asked after releasing him from his arms, “What brings you to my lab?”

“Your lab?” Seokjin shook his head in disbelief, “So, you’re the one who’s been hunting those creatures?”

“Son!” Kim Joon-Hwi called. He looked like he was hurt by Seokjin’s question. He remained quiet for some time, thinking. Then he added, “Are you calling me a monster now? Did you even ask why I’ve been doing all these?”

“Why?” Seokjin asked flatly, “Tell me, father! Why are you doing this?”

“For you.”

“For me?”

“Yes, son!” Kim Joon-Hwi’s eyes started to get wet as he continued, “You remember how your mother had taken you away from me when you were just a child? I begged her not to. But she said that I was just a mere human and so that I wasn’t worthy of keeping you, a demigod, all to myself. So, I decided to prove to her that I am worthy of being your father. And this was the only way.”

“No!” Seokjin shook his head, “This is not the right way. You can’t kill the innocents to get your son back.”

Kim Joon-Hwi nodded his head and said, “I know, son, what you are thinking of me. But trust me, I did it all for you. For us.”

There was silence. Nobody said anything for a long time. Kim Joon-Hwi continued, “Don’t you want to have that happy family back again? You, me and your mother? All together with no inequity of power?”

“Family?” Seokjin whispered. He had wanted it more than anything in his life. “Yes!” He finally answered.

“Don’t worry, son,” Kim Joon-Hwi said, “We are closer than you think to finally achieve that. All we need now…” He paused for a moment. Then he wetted his lips with his tongue and said, “are your friends.”

“My friends?” Seokjin was bewildered, “Are you asking me to hurt them?”

“No, son.” He said, “Nobody needs to be hurt.”

But Seokjin shook his head in denial, “I can’t do this to them. They are my friends.”

Kim Joon-Hwi further said, “But if I promise not to hurt them, will you bring them here for me, son? For the sake of our broken family?”

Seokjin thought for a moment. His father had been hurting and killing other species all this time, for them. Then, he looked at the dead guard lying on the floor. Hadn’t he killed for his friends as well? Weren’t they going to kill many more to achieve their own goal?

“You promise you won’t hurt them?” Seokjin asked for confirmation.

Kim Joon-Hwi hugged him and said, “I promise.”

“I should have known it!” Yoongi was frustrated with himself, “It was one of us who helped the Master escape.”

“I can’t believe we had a spy among us.” Jimin sat down in disbelief.

At that time, Kim Joon-Hwi entered the room followed by his son. Seokjin kept his head down, avoiding eye contacts with his friends. Some guards and wizards entered the room after them.

“Min Yoongi,” Kim Joon-Hwi called, “Didn’t I say, you were my prisoner now? I hope you know very well how I punish the traitors.”

Seokjin reminded his father immediately, “Father, you’ve promised.” Him addressing the CEO of OHA as father momentarily shocked them all.

“My son!” He didn’t bother looking back at him, “I think there is a lot more you still need to learn. You won’t survive in this world with that naïve brain of yours.”

“I’m not sure I understand.” Seokjin said, his voice sharp.

Kim Joon-Hwi laughed. It sounded deafening to his ears. He said, “What you need to understand is that promises are made to broken. You can’t trust someone for his words only.”

“Father!” Seokjin called him in frustration.

But Kim Joon-HWi continued, “I need that angel’s wings and the blood of the Gumiho. Only then, I can be more powerful than the Gods and Goddesses above.”

“But it wasn’t about power, was it?” Seokjin asked, desperately wanting his father to say that he didn’t mean it, that his decision of betraying his friends wasn’t wrong.

“Huh!” Kim Joon-Hwi scoffed, “Everything’s about power. You think that I have no dignity in me? That I will want to get back with Aphrodite even after she had insulted me for being a mortal?” Then, he yelled, “No! I’ll make sure the last thing she’ll know before dying is that we, humans, are capable of anything.”

Kim Joon-Hwi ordered the guards and the wizards, “Bring the angel out and work on his wings. Be careful! Don’t make the same mistake again. I need the wings to be cut out while he’s still alive.”

“No!” Both Seokjin and Yoongi screamed at the same time. Two guards held Seokjin back as he came forward to attack his father causing him to fall on the ground.

“How dare you attack me, you little freak?” Kim Joon-Hwi yelled at his son. He told the guards holding onto Seokjin, “Lock him away. I will deal with him later.”

“Don’t you try hurting my friends!” Namjoon threatened Kim Joon-Hwi, “I will make you pay for every inch of it.”

“Think about saving yourself, you devil!” Kim Joon-Hwi said and turned back to go while the guards and wizards took away the struggling Seokjin and Hoseok.

There was nothing Yoongi could do to open up the lock from the inside. He kept muttering things and putting spells while everyone waited impatiently. Soon, it was clear that the spells were not working.

“The only way out will be us, fighting the guards once they come to take me.” Jimin finally said, “Didn’t you hear what the CEO said? He needed my blood along with Hoseok’s wings.”

Jimin was right. After some time, three guards came. One of them announced, “I’m going to bring the Gumiho out. Everyone step back or you’ll be shot to death.”

The gate to their cage was opened. Two guards entered while the other stood outside pointing his gun at them. Namjoon pointed at the guard outside. Taehyung nodded and turned himself into the huge wolf and attacked the guards those came inside. The one outside missed a shot at Taehyung as he was moving too fast.

Before they could figure out the situation properly, Jungkook and Yoongi were already on the move. Jungkook bit a guard down while Yoongi froze the one outside with his spell temporarily. But one of them managed to escape.

“Let’s get out of here before the...” Namjoon couldn’t finish the sentence when the emergency alarm went off.

“Oh shit!” Yoongi swore, “We’re fucked.”

My Masterlist

Tag List: @bts-ruu​,

The only sensible character in the whole play...

“While I only hated my husband, I could bear to see him—but since I have despised him, he’s too offensive.”

(Mrs. Fainall, The Way of the World)

Restoration Series

could i get an imagine with James from The Riot Club with a trans reader? or just gender neutral?

Fandom: The Riot Club

Pairing: James Leighton-Masters x Trans Reader

Y/N: Your Name Y/S/N: Your Sur-Name

My friend had forced me to go to the party with her. She wanted me to meet with some of her other friends. She was a party animal which caused her to have many friends. I, on the other hand, had only her.

She was introducing me to many of her friends, whom I never met. Even if I had met some of them before, I didn’t really remember them. I excused myself from a huge crowd of people after being there for about half an hour and went to get a drink.

Then I noticed someone I knew. It was James.

James was the best student of our year. So, it was very common that everybody knew him. But I didn’t just knew him from my class, he was actually my crush. I liked him for his polite manners and definitely for that hair. But I didn’t think if he had ever noticed me.

I was staring at James while he was having some important conversations with his friends. Then suddenly he looked at me and our eyes locked. We stared at each other for about 5 seconds when I realized what I was doing and looked away quickly.

There was some shouts and cheers from behind me. This meant his friends had noticed that too. I felt my blood rushing towards my cheeks.

“Hello Y/S/N.” someone said from my left.

I looked and saw it was James. How did he know my name?

“Umm... Hi.” I said rather stupidly.

“You probably don’t know me” he said, “I am James from your class. I thought I would introduce myself as we’ve never talked.”

That meant he had noticed me. But I thought I was unnoticeable.

“Oh” I said finding nothing else to say.

James let out a small chuckle “Really? You have nothing else to say?”

“You already know my name and that I am in your class. What else should I be saying?”

James frowned “I...I’m sorry. I thought you were alone and needed a company.”

I quickly changed my tone into a friendly one and said “I’m sorry. Actually I don’t usually make new friends. Forgive my awkwardness. And yes, I would very much like your company.”

James relaxed and ordered two drinks for us and we talked for a very long time. I was very shocked to find out that James knew so much about me.

“To be honest, I like you a lot.” said James. “I actually wanted to ask you out but I feared you would say ‘no’.”

I was so overwhelmed to hear it that I didn’t know how to react. I said, “I also like you, James.”

James smiled and said, “Let’s have dinner tomorrow, at Nando's?”

I accepted his proposal.

As soon as I got to my dorm, I started to worry. I am a trans female. But surely James didn’t know that. How would he react if he find it out? I could keep it a secret. But I didn’t want to.

Finally, the time came and James came to pick me up. We went to the restaurant and chatted for awhile. But the thought of me telling James the truth about myself was terrifying. I didn’t know how to begin.

Probably James noticed me worried about something. He finally asked, “Are you okay, Y/N?”

“I need to tell you something.” I said. Then I explained everything.

James didn’t reply. His expression was unreadable.

I knew what was coming. I said, “It’s okay if you don’t want to be around me. You don’t have to say anything or explain yourself. You can simply walk away and I’ll understand.”

“Why will I walk away?” James asked in a calm way. “Didn’t I say that I like you?”

I was confused and didn’t know what to say. So, I kept silent.

James leaned towards me and whispered “May I?”

“You may.” I replied.

Then he kissed me gently on my lips.

A Reaper’s Mistake

'The Avonlea Story Club'

Story no. #01 Genre: Adventure Time Duration: 15 Jan, 2023- 15 Feb, 2023

Warning: Death (obviously), grief, mild horror, slight swearing, small space, some messed up explanation of heaven and hell, deceiving, betrayal, angst, crying, kissing etc. Word Count: 7.7k Words (It turned out longer than I planned)

Summary: Harley comes to know that the death of her twin brother was a mistake by the grim reaper that took his life. So, she makes a deal of travelling to the underworld to correct it in order to bring her dead brother back home. On her journey, she learns little things about life... and death.

Harley returned to her room after a long and exhausting day. She felt cold, both on the inside and the outside. But she didn’t mind. After all, death was supposed to be cold. Now, Harley wasn’t the one who died really. It was her twin brother Ashton. But it didn’t make any difference to her. The thing about losing a twin is that you lose yourself along with them. At least, that was how Harley felt at the moment.

She lay on the bed, thinking. There was no way she could go to sleep without any trouble. How could she, when she knew her other half laid all alone in a mortuary? Harley wanted to cry. But her eyes were as dry as dust. She turned on some music on her phone and wished that her heart stopped clenching for a while.

By the time, the room temperature started to drop. At a point, Harley started to feel very uncomfortable to ignore it. When she checked the AC remote, she was shocked to find that the temperature went down to 19°C. Before she could fix it, another degree dropped before her eyes.

“What the hell!” she thought to herself. “It’s not even that cold outside.”

Harley could detect sudden movements behind her. She turned on her bed carefully and saw a hooded figure in a corner of her room. An involuntary gasp escaped her mouth. She sat on the bed promptly and whisper-called the intruder, “Ashton! Is that you?”

The figure came forward. Through the lamp light, Harley saw its long and oval shaped face. The jaws looked like they were sucked in. A crooked nose hung in the middle. The gray eyes were very large. Whoever this man was, he was not Ashton, Harley knew it for sure.

“Who are you?” Harley asked flatly.

“I am not a ghost nor a mere human. And I am definitely not your brother Ashton.”  The man replied fast and paused for a while before adding, “I am a grim reaper.”

Harley sighed. The man who claimed to be a grim reaper was taken aback. It was definitely not the reaction he had been expecting. The man cleared his throat to speak but was interrupted by Harley.

“So that’s it?”  she asked quietly, “This is how I die?  Because of  a heartbreak?”

“Umm…” The man considered her unusual behavior for a moment. She had believed him. But she wasn’t a bit scared. She was rather accepting her death more easily than most of the people he had encountered.

“Actually, you’re not dead.” The grim reaper said. Harley nodded her head slowly. But didn’t say anything further. He took a deep breath before saying the following.

“We’re short on time. So, listen carefully. Ashton wasn’t the one to die. It was supposed to be someone else. However, due to some misunderstanding on my part, this grave mistake occurred and it has to be fixed to avoid further complications. We need to retreat his soul from the underworld. Now, I could have done the job myself but it is mandatory for a grim reaper to accompany a human, be it living or dead, to cross the river by boat down there. Yes! Living humans had gone to the underworld before. You may ask why. But I’m not in a situation to explain anything unnecessary. I hope you don’t have any questions.”

Harley could take in huge amounts of information at once. Still, this was too much to comprehend even to her. She could never imagine in her wildest dream that her dead brother could be brought back to life.

She said as politely as she could given the situation, “But I do have a question. To be honest, a lot of them.”

The grim reaper was satisfied with her reaction this time. He held up his hand and said, “Even if you do, you’ll be answered on the way. Now, pack your bag with necessary stuff because we’re gonna have a wild night in the underworld.”

“I haven’t even agreed to go with you, have I?” Harley said, irritation clear in her tone.

The grim reaper put on a smile and asked, “Do you want your brother back or not?”

“But…” Harley tried to argue but was immediately interrupted.

“Yes or no?”

Harley groaned in annoyance. But she considered the matter. She had nothing to lose but gain from this expedition. So, there was nothing much to think about, not even the dangers it may involve. She replied quietly, “Yes!”

“Follow me, then!”  The reaper leapt out of the window.

Harley took as little time as she could to pack her bag like she had been told. She got out through the door noiselessly, not that her parents could still be awake. The reaper was waiting in the backyard. As Harley went closer, she could feel how her surroundings were changing abruptly into a very cold one.

“Good!” he said after examining Harley. “Let’s get moving!” 

For a while, all Harley could make out was his light gray eyes before he turned and started to run. She followed him as fast as her little feet allowed her to. They kept going like that for some time without saying anything to each other. Harley’s mind was spiraling with thousands of questions. But she decided to ask the very basics.

“You didn’t say how much time we really have.” She yelled at the tall figure ahead of her.

“Let’s say before they arrange Ashton’s funeral ‘cause no soul can be retreated once their earthly goodbye is done.” The reaper replied.

“That,” Harley said, “would be tomorrow.”

The reaper slowed his pace and turned to face her, “I hope you understand now why you should hurry a little more.”

Harley felt out of breath. But she wasn’t willing to take any insults for her height. She continued to run and asked again, “Where are we going anyway?”

“To the underworld, of course!” the reaper laughed.

“I meant, where on earth?” Harley said through gritted teeth.

“Oh!” The reaper said, no sarcasm in his deep voice, “Mrs. Laferty’s backyard.”

“No way! That’s the underworld?”

“There’s a doorway to the underworld. Yes!”

Harley stopped abruptly. It took a few moments before the grim reaper realized that Harley wasn’t following him anymore. He turned and ran back towards her, giving her a look which asked why she had done that.

“At least,” Harley breathed out the words, “give me a good reason to trust you.”

“Should I summon up dead people to make you believe me?” the reaper asked impatiently.

“Nope!” Harley replied flatly, “I believe that you’re a grim reaper. But I don’t exactly trust you about bringing back my brother. Who knows, what you’re tricking me into.”

“Seriously? You think a grim reaper has anything to gain from a mere human?”

“That wasn’t very convincing.” Harley turned back to walk.

“Wait!” the reaper held her by her wrist and said, “Alright! I’m going to tell you the real reason why I’m so desperate to make it right. But you have to promise me that no matter what, you’re not gonna back away from this. No matter what!”

Harley sensed the seriousness in his voice and nodded her head in affirmation. The reaper sighed, “I’m gonna lose my job even if I mess up for once. I saw what happened to the others when they did it. I don’t want the same fate. If I can correct the mistake before the higher officials are aware of it, I may have a chance of keeping my job as a grim reaper.”

He paused and looked at Harley, “Since I need you as much as you need me to bring back your brother, will you help me do this?”

“Alright! I think,” Harley took her warm hand away from his cold one and said, “I can do this without bothering you with more questions.”

Once they reached Mrs. Laferty’s backyard, the reaper produced a scythe out of nowhere and marked a large X on the ground. After a few minutes of complete silence, the ground beneath their feet started to shake. Then the X mark glowed scarlet before that part went down, creating a stair to the underworld.

“I think you forgot to ask the most crucial question on the way.” The reaper said to Harley. She looked at him with genuine curiosity. He smiled brightly and added, “My name is Joaquinn with double N.”

Joaquinn walked ahead of Harley down the stairs. Once they reached the floor made of wood, fire on the huge torches that hung by the wall lit up. Harley looked back the way she had come only to find that the stairs had disappeared completely. Fear had slowly started to build inside her. She almost reached to grab Joaquinn by his hand but stopped herself immediately.

Ahead of them was the huge river that Joaquinn had mentioned earlier. There was a small boat and the boatman was staring at them with a piercing look. Joaquinn turned to Harley and whispered, “You stay here.”  Then, he walked toward the boatman.

Harley wondered what it was that Joaquinn had been explaining so earnestly to the weird looking boatman. She couldn’t make out the words. But she could definitely tell by the tone of it that it was something she didn’t want to find out. After a while, Joaquinn took out an envelope from his pocket and showed the piece of paper it contained to the man. The man glanced at Harley for a split second before giving a stiff nod to the reaper.

Joaquinn turned back and came towards Harley with a pleasant smile on his face. “It’s all done,” he said and took Harley’s hand to guide her to the boat. Harley wasn’t feeling very good about the idea now. She wanted to ask Joaquinn if he was sure that their plan was going to work. But she couldn’t do that since she had promised him earlier not to bother with more questions.

“C’mon, now!” Joaquinn called, “Hop in!” Swallowing the lump that had grown on her throat, Harley climbed on the boat.

The boat ride was a quiet and long one. Harley had fixed her stare on the boatman, who had been rowing away without looking at them for once. Minutes later, they reached the end. Instead of wood on this side, the floor was made of concrete. They got down and Joaquinn nodded a thanks to the boatman. Harley doubted if he had even noticed that. The boatman headed back.

Harley couldn’t help but ask, “How are we going to go back?” 

“You don’t have to worry about that part.” Joaquinn said casually. “It’s easier to get out than getting in.”

“Now what?” Harley asked once again since Joaquinn kept standing there for quite some time.

“Shh!” Joaquinn whispered, “I think they sensed our arrival.”

“Who?” Harley was alarmed by Joaquinn’s change in voice.

“The guards.” As soon as Joaquinn whispered out the words, barking of dogs from all directions started to deafen Harley’s ears. “This way!” Joaquinn yelled as he took Harley’s hand and ran towards a corridor.

Harley glanced back for a split second while running along with Joaquinn. She could swear that she had never seen such a sight in her lifetime. At least twenty or more animals were coming at them. But they looked nothing like ordinary dogs. Their heads were huge with eyes looking like they could fall out any moment. Their tongues were dark purple and saliva secreted from them looked like blood.

Harley didn’t look long enough to find more hideous structures on their bodies. She tightened her grip on Joaquinn’s hand and ran faster. The corridor was getting narrower as they ran forward. At some point, it was hard even for one person to move let alone two. The dogs, being huge in size than a human or a reaper couldn’t reach them before the animals got stuck. It meant only one thing. Both the reaper and Harley were stuck as well.

There was this extremely narrow corridor which could crush your bones if you tried to pass through it on one side and the dangerous looking dogs a little further on the other. Joaquinn swore by the realization while Harley started to feel suffocated.

The barking of those animals sounded worst inside the corridor. Harley clapped her hands on her ears tightly. Joaquinn looked down at her with concern. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Please make it stop!” she yelled.

Joaquinn noticed that Harley was in between him and the underworld dogs. So, he moved Harley a bit further to make space for him to pass by her. He then placed himself between Harley and the dogs, his back facing the latter. He pulled Harley closer and said, “You need to calm down.”

Harley buried her face on Joaquinn’s chest, her hands still covering her ears. She felt dizzy. All the chaos around her, the small space, her seasonal asthma and the fact that she hadn’t anything to eat the whole day were good reasons for her to faint. And that she did in a matter of a minute.

Harley woke up in the dark in complete silence. She sat up promptly and pondered over the possibilities of her being in the underworld. “Had I been dreaming?” she thought to herself.

“Hey! Welcome back!” Joaquinn’s cheerful voice proved her wrong and she sighed in relief. That meant, the hope of getting her brother back was still possible. The next moment, she thought about the terrible event she had encountered before she passed out.

“Where are we?” she asked, panic raising with each word.

“Ah! Don’t worry about those nasty animals. They’re gone. We are now safely locked up inside a cell.” Joaquinn said those words as if being locked up in the underworld prison was no big deal.

Harley asked, “What happened exactly when I was out?”

“Well! After you fainted, the guards came to inquire about the sudden outbursts of the hellhounds. Since they found us with no real explanation of trespassing in the underworld, they decided to put us in a cell before informing their master. That’s all.”

Harley secretly appreciated the quality of Joaquinn explaining critical situations easily. By the time, her eyes adjusted to the dark and she could make out his figure sitting in front of her. She sighed and asked, “So, how do we break out of here?”

“I’m still thinking about that.” Joaquinn said casually and pointed to Harley’s backpack, “You better eat something while I plan our escape.”

Harley thought she ought to eat something in order to have some strength for the future troubles she was about to meet. She prepared herself mentally to face more obstacles too. After the greetings from the hellhounds, she thought she could handle just about anything.

Offering Joaquinn the packet of butter cookies that she had brought, which he gladly refused, Harley started to relax as she chewed on her favorite snack. She felt a little more comfortable to ask Joaquinn some more questions which were not necessarily important at the moment but were bothering her mind a lot.

“Why do you think my brother is in the underworld?” She asked quietly, “I mean, isn’t it hell?”

“It is, indeed!” Joaquinn replied, “Why do you ask?”

“Because I can’t think of anything my brother did that was evil enough to land him in hell. Wait a minute! Or is it because of the other person who was supposed to be dead instead?”

“Nope!” Joaquinn shook his head and continued, “even if it was a mistake that your brother died in the place of umm… someone else, he still would end up where he deserved to be. Don’t give me that look before I explain the whole matter. It’s not because he's evil that he ended up in hell. It’s rather because of the lack of a heaven.”

“Lack of what?” Harley couldn’t mask the surprise in her voice.

“Yeah, that’s right!” Joaquinn chuckled, “There is no heaven to begin with. Humans made that place up for the comfort of mind. Every human ends up in hell after they die, which is this underworld.”

“Now that you’ve said that,” Harley said thoughtfully, “I don’t think that there is anyone saint enough to enjoy eternal peace or something. So, I guess, it’s quite logical.”

“Not a saint exactly but there are people who are really good compared to others. And they definitely don’t deserve to be put in the same place. It’s not the flaws in humans but rather the flaws in the whole concept of heaven itself. Do you think eternal peace is even possible? I mean, what is peace without a little chaos, huh?”

“You’re smarter than you look.” Harley thought. Of course, she didn’t say the words out loud.

Joaquinn continued, unaware of Harley’s admiration, “Now, here is how the hell works. To put it in easier language, people who did worse get the worst place whereas the best people get the best, all here in the same underworld. Easy as pie.”

“Isn’t it crazy to think that once we get out of here, me and my brother, we’re going to be the only people who know exactly about the afterlife?” Harley said dreamily.

“Hell, no!” Joaquinn replied with a laugh, “I’m not taking any risks. I’m gonna make Ashton forget about this all. A grim reaper’s kiss can make you forget certain parts of your life, you know.”

“Ew!” The thought of Joaquinn kissing her twin makes her want to puke. Then, she remembered that she was also someone who knows his secrets as well and gulped down the lump on her throat.

“So,” Harley asked, “Do you know where my brother is?” 

“Well, if it isn’t my dear friend.” Joaquinn had turned his head towards the cell door and called the person who had just arrived, much to Harley’s surprise.

“I think I know you, don’t I?” the person brought the torch he was carrying closer to the cell and recognized Joaquinn.

“How can you not?” Joaquinn whined, “I am the grim reaper who brought you here. It had been only a month and you already forgot all about me? I thought you said that you were glad I wasn’t as scary as you thought.”

“Of course, Joaquinn!” he smiled, “I am glad that it was you rather than some other mean reaper. What are you doing here?”

“I’m in trouble, my friend.” Joaquinn stood up and walked to him, “I see you’re in uniform. That means, they’ve already posted you as one of the guards, haven't they?”

“Sure, they did.” the boy said with a doubt.

Joaquinn yelped in joy, “Speaking of perfect timing, huh! C’mon, now, what are you waiting for? Get me out of here.”

“Wait a minute!” The boy took a step back, “What are you talking about? If the master knows about this, he’ll lock me up instead.”

“Oh no, silly! He wouldn’t. Because I’m going to take you out of here with me.” Joaquinn said reassuringly.

“Out of here?”

“Yep!”

“Is that even possible?” The boy asked dreamily. “But I thought you can’t go out into the world if your funeral is already done.”

“Who said that your funeral’s done?” Joaquinn continued, “Remember? You don’t have a family, Alex!”

“My name’s Alec.”  the boy corrected.

“Of course, it is. Now, listen to me carefully. I have a spare soul to put in the underworld. Instead, I can free one from here. Okay! I see, you don’t believe me. Wait a second.” Joaquinn took out the envelope from his pocket and showed the paper to the boy.

“Who is…” Alec tried to ask but Joaquinn instantly said, “We gotta hurry if you want to get out. Now, tell me if you agree on the deal we just made.”

“I don’t know.” The boy simply shrugged his shoulders.

“C’mon, Alan.” Joaquinn tried to persuade him further, “All you need to do is get me out of here and you’re granted a second chance of living your life.”

“But what’s the point if I’m gonna die someday.” The boy argued, “I don’t even have a family to go back to.”

“I know,” Joaquinn thought for a moment before saying, “But what about… her?”

“Her?” the boy’s eyes widened, “You know about her?”

“Yes!” Joaquinn nodded, “I do.”

The boy thought for a moment quietly. Then, his face beamed with hope. “Alright, Joaquinn! I believe you. I’m going to bring the key.” Saying this, the boy had already gone away with his torch and darkness fell into the cell once again.

Joaquinn let out a heavy sigh, “Ah! It’s so bothersome to deal with humans.”

Harley had been listening to their conversation quietly but attentively. She came forward and cleared her throat before asking, “Is it true that his funeral’s not done and that you’re going to help him out?”

“I don’t know, to be honest.” Joaquinn replied, “I don’t stay long enough for people’s funerals. Once I bring them to the underworld, my work is done.”

“So, you just lied to him?” Harley doubted the reaper’s words.

“Do I have any choice?” Joaquinn turned to her and said, “We don’t have an eternity to get your brother out of here. And answering to your hanging question, I don’t even know where he is right now.”

Harley remained quiet. She knew there was nothing she could say to argue with him. After all, she would choose to help her own brother over some stranger named Alec. But her heart panged with sudden guilt.

“Who is her?” She asked quietly.

“What? Who?” Joaquinn asked unknowingly.

“The one you told Alec about.”

“Oh! I don’t know that either. Just made a lucky guess.” Joaquinn shrugged his shoulders.

Harley’s hand clenched into a fist at his apathy, “He could be gay, you know.”

“Once again, lucky guess.”

The boy came back with the key and a huge grin on his face. He unlocked the door without a word and they got out immediately.

“Thank you so much, my friend.” Joaquinn pulled him into a hug and said, “You need to wait here while I finish my job. Then, I’ll be back to get you.”

“You’re really coming back for me, aren’t you?” The boy asked, still a faint smile lingering on his face.

Harley spoke before Joaquin could say anything. “Alec, you’re an amazing person. The world out there doesn’t deserve you. I hope you always remember that.”

“Who are you?” the boy asked in confusion.

“She’s another reaper. Anyway, we gotta go, now. Don’t worry! We’ll come back for you. Bye.” Joaquinn said quickly and pulled Harley by her hand to drag her out of that place through the dark corridor.

It was hard for Harley to keep up with Joaquinn when they ran together. Because, Joaquinn with his huge legs ran as if he was jumping on the moon's surface. Harley, on the other hand, had to take more steps faster to remain by his side. Since it hadn’t been the best day for her, she didn’t feel energetic enough to run anyway. So, after a while, she tripped and fell, hard, on the ground.

Joaquinn kneeled down beside her and asked anxiously, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fucking not!” Harley muttered angrily under her breath.

“Hey!” Joaquinn yelled, “Don’t take out the anger with me. We should hurry if you want to save Ashton. Now, is it my fault that you’re too weak to handle anything?”

“Technically, everything that has been happening is your fault.” Harley snapped back.

“Okay! Fine!” Joaquinn threw his hands up in defeat, “Let’s not run anymore. But at least get up so that we can walk out of the dark.”

Harley did as she was asked to and they both walked quietly for a while. She felt uneasy this way. She felt like she didn’t really have the right to remain angry at this stranger, who had been helping her, even if it was something he needed to do as well.

So, she tried to cool down and asked, “Would you mind me asking about that paper you showed Alec and the boatman? What does it contain?”

“Well, umm… it was sent to me with the name of umm… the person I was supposed to take the soul of.” Joaquinn said rather awkwardly.

“Who is this person?” Harley asked instantly, feeling a little bad for not wanting to know about them earlier.

“I don’t think you should know that.” Joaquinn sounded reluctant to tell her, “You would probably make a huge deal out of it.”

“Why?” Harley asked more curiously, “Are they someone I know?”

Joaquinn scoffed, “Judging by how you reacted earlier for only deceiving a stranger, I don’t think it matters.”

Harley rolled her eyes in annoyance, “Fine! Don’t tell me.”

They walked a few more minutes when they could finally see the light ahead of them. “Can you see it?” Joaquinn asked, pointing at its way and Harley nodded, “Let’s get out of here, then.” Joaquinn started to sprint toward it, leaving Harley no choice but to run after him.

They came out into an opening. It was a large field full of what appeared to be people at first glance. But they were rather different entities; souls of dead humans, guards, demons, monsters etc.

Harley's eyes grew larger at the sight, "Are we caught again?"

"Not yet!" Joaquinn replied shortly and grabbed her hand. A sudden shiver went through Harley’s whole body at his cold touch.

"He's a little too touchy." Harley thought to herself even though it was something she didn't think worthy to be thought of at this time.

"Let's walk out of here casually." Joaquinn dragged her forward. He kept talking while looking straight ahead, "It's the center of the underworld. Did you see the doors around?"

Harley nodded her head. The place was circle shaped and the walls had lots of doors to it. They had gotten out of one of those doors as well.

"Each of them leads to a different place. Now the question is, which one are we supposed to be using?" Joaquinn said.

Harley asked him instead, "Where do you usually bring the souls?"

"To the receptionist." Joaquinn nodded at a woman in front of them, "They are taken to the master and he decides where to put them in."

"I bet the receptionist knows where they are kept." Harley said.

Joaquinn nodded again, "She might."

"We should take a chance." Harley said boldly. Joaquinn looked confused. So, she replied, "Let's ask for help."

Asking for help turned out to be a bad idea.

Harley was reluctant to speak with the receptionist. But the receptionist made both of them answer her questions at once. Bombarding them with questions and receiving different answers almost every time from the two of them, made her suspicious. So, she decided to play it cool with them, but dialed for the master’s number secretly.

“You may wait for a few minutes. I need to make a call to ask the ones who keep the records to let you know where Mr. Ashton Campbell is kept currently.” The woman said with a professional smile on her face.

Joaquinn and Harley glanced at each other and swallowed together. Before Joaquinn could mouth the word ‘run’, someone yelled from behind.

“Holy Molly! Look who I ran into. Joaquinn, my bro.”

“Matilda!” The woman called her, while Joaquinn looked at her in disbelief. “Do you know this man well?”

“Bet I do, Kim.” Matilda walked towards them. “He’s one of the guards.” The receptionist named Kim left out a sigh. She was a good friend of Matilda and trusted her. So, she gave them the location to Ashton’s room, which was a map since the underworld was as big as the earth itself. And they all left the place quietly.

It wasn’t until they entered a door which led them to another corridor (“Jeez, the hell is full of corridors!” Harley thought) they started to talk.

“Thank you for saving my ass just now.” Joaquinn looked at Matilda and let out a huge smile. Harley thought he looked better with a smile.

“It’s nothing.” Matilda replied, “You better explain what’s going on. Who is this living human that you brought here? Don’t tell me you fell for those tricks like me as well.”

Joaquinn laughed at this and said, “She’s a friend. She’s helping me to break out the wrong person I sent here today.”

“No way!” Matilda’s eyes widened, “You kidding me?”

“Absolutely not!” Joaquinn gave a quick explanation of what the real deal was. Matilda nodded her head. “Won’t you introduce me to her?” Matilda elbowed Joaquinn.

“Yeah, sure.” Joaquinn said, “This is Harley as I told you. And Harley, she is one of the reapers, I mean, was a reaper.”

“Why isn’t she anymore, may I ask?” Harley asked, confused at her being suddenly involved with them.

“That’s because,” Matilda replied, herself, “I did the worst thing a grim reaper could do. I fell in love with a human. It is called ‘love at first sight’ I believe. And I refused to take the soul of that person. Now, there you go. That’s the dumbest shit I did. But you know what? I’m not ashamed. Not even a little bit.” Matilda started to laugh at her own speech even though Harley couldn’t see what was so funny about it.

She could only imagine how tragic it must be; given the job of killing a loved one. Even if you knew it was their time to die, you could never bring yourself to do that. Or at least, Harley could never do that.

“The master gave me the job of a guard instead, you know. Just so he could make me regret my poor choice. Because I got to see the love of my life going through the worst punishments of hell regularly. But like I said, I don’t regret nothing.”

“That’s my girl!” Joaquinn pulled her into a hug. Harley wished that she could be hugged like that sometimes too.

“Freeze!” Some guards came behind them with different weapons.

“Shit! We gotta run!” Matilda screamed the order and in the blink of an eye, they started running as if their life depended on it. Actually, it pretty much did.

“Why are we running?” Harley asked, “I thought we got the permission.”

“The permission of only a receptionist. Not the master.” Matilda said sarcastically.

Matilda ran ahead of them, reading the map in between so that they didn’t have to lose time on finding their desired person. But at a point, they ran into a dead end.

“What happened?” Joaquinn asked, “Why are we stopping here?”

“Shit! I should have turned left.” Matilda lifted her head from the map.

Suddenly an arrow was shooted towards her and she was pinned to the wall by her arm, “Fuck! It hurts.” she screamed in pain, making Harley flinch.

“This is it!” Joaquinn sat down with a thud, “Guess I have to serve the master along with you, Matilda.” he muttered.

The guards came running towards them, seizing them by their arms and tying their hands behind them. Neither Harley nor Joaquinn made any complaints at all. But Matilda struggled hard against them only to increase her pain and to give up in the end.

“I’m sorry, friends. I couldn’t come to much help, after all.” Matilda said with a sigh.

“Let’s just leave our fates to the master.” Joaquinn replied.

“Oh, I’m sure he’s going to have a blast.” Matilda scoffed.

They were dragged along with the guards and were forced to follow them. Nobody said anything to the other. Harley understood that begging the guards to let them go would be fruitless. They looked like they were loyal to their master.

The guards took them in front of a cell. Harley observed that this one looked more exclusive than the one they were kept in earlier. It was rather big and cleaner too. The guards checked them thoroughly. They took away Harley’s backpack too. Joaquinn started to get really mad when they took out the contents of his pants pockets.

Joaquinn snapped at the guards and almost started an argument. Meanwhile, Harley noticed that the envelope that made her curious earlier layed on the ground. She took it and opened it to see what’s written there.

Name of the Human: Harley Campbell

Date of birth: 19 January, 2003

Date of death: 15 February, 2023

Time of death: 02: 34 a.m.

Assigned Grim Reaper: Joaquinn

Harley didn’t know what to feel at that time. She could never imagine that it was her instead of her brother who should have died. But the more she thought of it, the more it made sense.

They both had sneaked out of their house to get to one of their friend’s parties. She didn’t want to go. But Ashton insisted upon her coming along with him. That was when the accident took place. That was how the mistake was made. They shared the same surname. They both were born on the same day. They both were present in the car during the accident.

Harley closed her eyes for a few seconds and opened them again. She took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. Then, with a poker face on, she kept the paper inside the envelope and handed it to Joaquinn.

Joaquinn’s eyes grew larger and he looked at Harley suspiciously, trying to read her face. But Harley didn’t budge. She went inside the cell willingly and sat down at a corner.

They sat there in complete silence after the guards left. Joaquinn sat down beside Harley and Matilda fell asleep at another corner across from her. Then, Harley decided to speak.

"So, it was supposed to be me." It was not a question, rather a statement to let Joaquinn know that she had found out.

"You saw it, didn't you?" Joaquinn asked and Harley nodded slowly. Joaquinn muttered something to himself and buried his head in between his knees.

"You could have just told me. You didn’t need to hide it." Harley said quietly.

Joaquinn looked up and turned to face her, "I did it because I had to. I needed your help to make things right. But as far as I know humanity, no one would want to die willingly."

Harley let out a painful laughter, "Then, you only know a fraction of it."

Joaquinn didn't reply. Harley settled down easily and made her space to lie down on the ground. She whispered softly but loud enough for Joaquinn to hear, "If we get to Ashton anyhow, please do me a favor and keep it a secret from him as well."

“You really thought you could work right under my nose without me finding out, huh?” The master scoffed at the three captives. They had been brought before him. He was now the god of their fates. And everybody knew, except Harley, that the master liked to play with them.

“Let me first get done with my old acquaintance.” The master moved towards Matilda and spoke, “Dear Matilda, we met again. I thought we wouldn’t until you finish your 300 years sentence.”

“Here we are!” Matilda shrugged her shoulders.

A frown appeared on the master’s forehead. He looked displeased when he said, “There’s nothing interesting about you. Nothing that excites me at all. I’ll go for the usual punishment. Add 300 years more to your 167 years that’s left.”

Matilda blinked her eyes quickly for a while. Harley wondered if she had been expecting some worst kind of punishment. The master ordered the guards to take Matilda away. But she said, “Please, master, let me talk to the girl. For once.”

When the master nodded she came straight to her and said with a smile, “Don’t worry about me. I’m going to be just fine. But since you’re the only living person I can say this to, I will. Remember that it’s coming from an ex grim reaper’s mouth.”

Matilda took a deep breath before saying, “Life’s too short to waste over stupid mistakes. Please, don’t leave any regrets. So that when it’s your time to die, you can die a happy human.”

Harley could say nothing in return. She glanced at Joaquinn. But he had been keeping his eyes down to the floor. Matilda pulled Harley into a warm embrace. Harley could swear that she had never been hugged like this her entire life. Then, Matilda was taken away.

The master walked around the room, thinking. Harley thought he was probably thinking of how to punish them.

“Alright!” the master announced, “I think I know what to do with you two.” He smirked at Harley, “You’re here to save your brother, right?”

Harley nodded her head rather innocently. She looked a little too desperate. Joaquinn bit his lower lip in frustration. For some reason, he was really mad at himself.

“I will grant you that wish then.” The master said and Joaquinn’s head shot up.

He asked in disbelief, “You’re gonna let us go?”

The master shook his head as he laughed, “Not that easily! But hear me out. I thought for a moment how I had never granted anything to anybody before. So, it might be a good thing to experiment on. But again, there is a condition.”

The master walked to Joaquinn and said to him only, “I will let this slip for only once. If you can make it right this time, you’re free to go. But if you mess up again, just once again, you’re going to have the same fate as your friend, Matilda.”

The master walked back to his seat and asked, “So, tell me, Joaquinn, do you accept it?”

Joaquinn glanced at Harley. But this time, her head was bent downward. Joaquinn swallowed hard and replied, “Yes!”

The master said nothing in return. But Harley noticed a satisfied face when she looked at him for the last time.

The moment Harley had been waiting for had never been closer. Two guards accompanied them to the cell where Ashton had been kept. They opened the cell door and giving a stiff nod went away. Harley stepped inside first followed by Joaquinn.

Ashton was sitting by his bed. He first thought that some guards had visited him. But when he saw his twin sister’s face, which was so much similar to his own, he couldn’t help but cry out.

“Harley!” He stood up and hugged her right away. “Oh, Harley! I’ve been so alone and I missed you so much.” Then, he looked at her face and his smile drowned, “Are you dead too?”

“No, I’m not!” Harley tried to show a smile, “I’m here to bring you back home.”

Ashton looked puzzled at her comment, “But I thought I died.” He looked at Joaquinn and said, “And you were the grim reaper who brought me here.”

Harley nodded and said, “Yes, I know. But there had been some mistakes. He shouldn’t have taken your soul. It should have been someone else. Anyway, we’ve sorted it out. Now, let’s get you out of here before the master comes up with some cruel ideas.”

Ashton nodded even though he wasn’t very sure about the whole matter. They got out of the cell and walked through the corridor. Joaquinn walked ahead of them, map in his hand. Harley thought that he had been exceptionally quiet. Probably giving them some privacy so that they could talk for the last time.

So, they talked. Harley told Ashton everything she couldn’t have. She told him how much she loved him but was never able to express it. She told him how he was the only person Harley cared about. She told him how much she hated her parents for discriminating between them and loving Ashton a little less than they did Harley.

By the time they had reached the river, both the siblings had become too emotional. Harley knew that it was their last meeting. But she couldn’t really say goodbye to her brother in fear that he might refuse to cooperate.

“Let’s get on the boat.” Ashton exclaimed, “I can’t wait to start anew.”

“Wait!” Joaquinn stepped forward, “Ashton! Don’t you want to know who this other person is? The one who’s to die instead of you?”

Harley glared at Joaquinn, shaking her head to remind him of the favor she had asked earlier. Ashton was too confused to understand it. He simply asked, “Who?”

Joaquinn swallowed before saying, “It’s Harley.”

Harley closed her eyes in disbelief. She thought she could trust this reaper only for once. But no!

It took a few minutes before Ashton realized what the reaper had informed. He gasped, “Oh my God! Harley!”

“No, Ashton!” Harley said, cupping her brother’s face in her hands, “It’s okay! Don’t feel too sad. I already know about it and I’ve accepted it too. Please, brother, it’s fine.”

But Ashton had been shaking his head in denial, “There’s no way I’m going back without you. No way! I can’t do this. I can’t take your life.”

“But it’s your life that I’ve been living right now.” Harley argued, “It was meant to be me from the start. Please, Ashton, don’t act like this.”

Ashton hugged Harley once again and Harley sunk into his embrace. Tears started to stream down her face. Ashton, on the other hand, was crying too. Seeing them in such misery, Joaquinn realized he had to step in.

He spoke, his voice shaking from the emotion that had been building inside him unknowingly, “I’m sorry to say this but I don’t think I can do this either. I can’t take your soul, Harley. I just can’t.”

Harley let go of Ashton. She looked furious. She yelled at Joaquinn, “It’s all your fault. You have to fix it now. You have to take my brother back to the world. I’m not taking any ‘sorry’ from you.”

Ashton tried to calm her down. He had never seen Harley in such a vulnerable state before. He pulled Harley back and they sat down on the concrete floor together. Ashton patted her softly on the back. When Harley finally stopped crying, he spoke.

“It’s okay! I’ve already faced death and I’ve accepted it too. Just think about mother and father. They had already gone through my death. How do you expect them to behave if they found out it was you and not me?”

“I don’t give a fuck about them.” Harley snapped.

Ashton chuckled and said each word as if he meant them, “Don’t be so stubborn, Harley. I know you love them, no matter what you say. Okay! If you don’t want to think of them, think of yourself. You have so many regrets. I know you do. But I don’t really have much. I have enjoyed my life the way I wanted to. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t the favorite child. But you had been fulfilling their dreams all this time that you never stopped to think what you wanted for yourself. I know, being a favorite child has its disadvantages. Now, what I want is that you go back and live the life you wanted. Not the one you were meant to. We’ll meet again. Then, I hope you would tell me what a happy and free life you had led.”

Harley suddenly remembered Matilda’s words, “Please, don’t leave any regrets.”

Harley looked at her brother and tears filled her eyes. She buried her head into his neck and sobbed quietly, while Ashton softly stroked her hair.

The boat ride back without Ashton was quiet at first. Harley could feel that her body was screaming for a nap. She was exhausted by everything that had happened in the past few hours. Harley felt as if she had lived through days.

The thought of leaving behind her twin made her eyes watery once again. She didn’t mind them anymore. Never in her life had she cried so hard. She felt that from now on, it would be a little easier for her to cry whenever she needed to. So, she sobbed in her hands freely.

Joaquinn sat closer and unconsciously wrapped his hands around her shoulders. Harley let herself lean onto his chest and cried silently. Then, she suddenly remembered the deal Joaquinn had made earlier with the master. She remembered how his face glowed with glory as if he had been expecting Joaquinn to fail.

“Joaquinn!” She called and looked up to his face, “But the master is going to hold you captive. You’re going to lose the job. You need…”

Joaquinn hushed her up and pulled her into a hug. He whispered to her softly, “It’s okay, Harley. I’ve learned to take responsibility for my actions. Everything was my fault, after all.”

Harley sniffed but remained silent. Joaquinn ran his hands through her hair and said, “I think, I ought to apologize to you. I’m sorry I dragged you into this mess. I’m sorry I lied to you. I’m sorry I couldn’t save your brother. I’m sorry, Harley, for everything.”

Harley nodded and said quietly, “Can we please stay like this until we reach the other side?” Joaquinn hummed and pulled her a little closer, letting her relax into his arms.

When they finally reached the spot, Joaquinn gently pulled her away. He held her by the shoulders to support while she got off the boat. The stairs had appeared once again. They climbed the stairs side by side and came into the opening of Mrs. Laferty’s backyard. The dawn was about to break. There was not a soul in sight.

Harley turned to Joaquinn to say her final goodbye. But he shook his head as if he knew what she was about to say. He said, “It’s not a goodbye. I hope we’ll meet again.”

He cupped her face into his cold hands and said, “It’s time for you to go back to being normal again. Don’t worry! I’ll let you remember the part where your brother and… someone you knew advised you to live your life with no regrets.”

Harley nodded her head in agreement. Joaquinn leaned forward to kiss her warm lips gently. Closing her eyes, Harley felt the moment with all her might till it lasted.

Author’s Note: This is the first ever story of the first month for my story club. Since I’m not a pro at this, please consider stupid mistakes. And also, I appreciate your honest feedbacks. The door to constructive criticism is always open to the readers.

Please check out my partner’s work of the month as well and support her > @littlemissblogger​

Red Hope! - Part 5

Specially requested by @lelewright1234. Hope you enjoy!

Note: This work is totally fictional and has nothing to do with BTS on real life. I mean no hate toward any person in particular. This plotline was requested. Though I personally hate bullies, I still believe there is hope for everyone.

Fandom: BTS Pairing: OT7 × OC (Leah) Warning: Bullies, allergy attack, OC suffering from amnesia, flashbacks etc. Genre: Fluff and Angst Summary: The boys plan to meet Leah one at a time for her to get to know them better...

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 (Complete)

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The doctor had suggested me to stay in the hospital for three more days and to take rest for the whole week even when I go home. The seven boys had made a schedule to meet me one at a time throughout the week. That sounded alright to me since I wanted to know them individually and talking in a group did not allow much opportunities.

*************************************************  

Day 1: Hoseok knew the steps too…

I was lying on my hospital bed. Hoseok had been sitting next to me on a chair while humming a song that sounded familiar to me. “What is this song?” I asked.

“Tightrope by Michelle Williams” he replied, “do you remember it? It was your favorite song to do ballet on.”

“It rings a bell.” I said.

He smiled at me and said, “I can’t wait to see you do ballet again.” I smiled back. I couldn’t wait to do it too. I wanted to know the feeling of dancing again.

“Oh, don’t make that face.” Hoseok pouted.

“What face?”

“That Smile-through-the-pain face. It hurts right here.” He put his hands on the left side of his chest to indicate his heart. The cute faces he was making were enough to melt my heart away and I laughed. This time it was genuine.

“Get up.” He said, “I don’t think anyone’s coming to check on you now.”

I did as he asked me to. He turned on the song I knew so well on his phone and came toward me. He took my hands in his. Then, we started to move along the music. We danced and danced. I closed my eyes to feel every beat. Hoseok didn’t need to lead me. I already knew every step of it.

The song ended. I opened my eyes and stared into his, breathing heavily. We were standing too close to hear each other’s heart beating, fast but rhythmic.

*************************************************  

Day 2: Jungkook spilled the truth...

Jungkook was complaining an awful lot about how he had missed half of the day because his hyungs had made him go to the school.

“It’s okay.” I said, “We still have enough time.”

“We have time, though,” he said in an annoyed voice, “but not enough.”

I had been pondering over the fact that Jungkook had stopped going to the school since I was in a coma. That sounded like we were very close. Hesitantly I finally asked him about it.

Jungkook’s face turned red as he shook his head slowly.

“No?” I asked, “Then why would you stop going to the school?”

“Don’t you know about the accident?” he asked in a serious voice.

What could the accident had to do with it? I was told that I was hit by a car and ended up being in a coma. But nobody gave me any details about it.

“What about it?” I asked.

“It was supposed to be us.” He said, his voice sad, “me and the boys.”

“Supposed to be?” I was confused.

Jungkook explained how they had been drunk that night. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have ended up the way I did. Jungkook’s eyes were filling up with tears.

“Come on, Jungkookie!” I tried to cheer him up, “I must have cared for you enough to have save you like that.”

“Yes, you did.” A tear fell from his eye, “Only we didn’t do the same.”

*************************************************

Day 3: Namjoon defended the boys...

I woke up hearing a rather loud conversation in the hospital corridor. It sounded like Nina was arguing with someone. I went closer to the door and I could hear what the other parties were saying.

“I can allow some of you,” Nina was saying, “But never Jin and Yoongi. I bet they’re still planning to prank her the way they always did.”

“Nina!” It was one of the boys, but I couldn’t recognize the voice, “We’ve talked about this. I promise you, nothing’s going to happen to her. We’ve learned our lessons.”

“I don’t trust you.” Nina snapped back, “You guys are capable of anything.”

“Alright!” he sounded exhausted, “How about we talk about it later, this evening? Does that sound good?”

There was no reply from Nina. I could hear footsteps approaching my door. So, I quickly ran toward my bed, grabbed a book from the table and sat there pretending I was reading.

Namjoon opened the door and as soon as he met my eyes, his grim face broke into a smile. I smiled back at him, not knowing what to do otherwise.

“Are you done with that one?” he pointed at the book I was holding.

“Just a little bit left.” I lied, though I had already finished reading it yesterday.

“Here,” he handed me the book he bought with him, “I hope you’ll like this one.” It was ‘Me Before You’ by Jojo Moyes. I took the book and thanked him.

I didn’t want to talk to him. I was too confused about the conversation that I just overheard. Somehow, hearing Nina not being able to trust them made me question their behaviors. Why were these boys being so good to me?

To avoid Namjoon, I pretended to read my book. He seemed to have understood that I was not in a mood to talk. He patiently waited for me quietly. After an hour, when I was still not paying any attention to him, he rose up.

“I’ll get going, then. Enjoy the book while you’re still here. They’re gonna release you tomorrow. So, good luck!”

*************************************************

Day 4: Jin made a promise...

I felt really bad the whole day once Namjoon was gone. I felt bad for suspecting him. He was such a gentleman. There was no way, he would try to hurt me. I thought of taking a chance to meet the boys and get to know them by myself. I was not going to judge them just because of something I overheard.

The next day, I was released from the hospital. My mother, stepfather, Nina and Jin came to take me home. As expected, Nina was not comfortable about Jin being there. It was visible on her facial expression.

When we reached home, everyone was busy making me feel comfortable, asking me if I needed anything. I said I wanted to stay at my room if that was okay. My mother nodded.

Nina and Jin followed me to my room. It was evident that Nina was not going to let me be alone with Jin today. I did not make any complaints either.

When Jin failed to get any attention from the two of us, he announced, “Leah, do you remember that I am a great cook? Master chef actually. Just wait and see how I’m going to surprise you.” Saying that he went to the kitchen while Nina rolled her eyes.

Jin came back with two bowls of hot ramen. “Oops!” he said, “I forgot that Nina’s with us.” And then he started to giggle like an idiot which made me laugh too.

“Very funny!” Nina said in an annoyed voice. Then she bought a pair of chopstick for herself and shared the ramen with mine.

As I slurped the ramen I remembered something from the past. I had an allergic reaction from ramen in the school cafeteria. Someone had mixed MSG with my ramen.

“Was it you?” I asked Jin.

He was confused but seemed to have understood the graveness of the matter. “What is it, dear?” he asked.

“Did you ever prank me by putting MSG in my ramen?”

He was startled as if he didn’t expected me to remember that. Nina sighed but stayed silent, wanting him to explain it himself.

“I…” he hesitated, “Yeah. But I didn’t know you would have such a violent attack. It was meant to be a joke.”

“Thank you but I’m not eating that.” I pushed the bowl away from me, “Can you guys please leave? I’m tired.”

Nina nodded and walked out of my room. Jin sat there for a while, his expression unreadable. Then, he slowly walked to the door. He turned to me and said, “I’m sorry, Leah. I promise we will make it up to you.”

*************************************************

Day 5: Jimin had cuteness in his bag…

The doorbell rang. I knew it was one of the boys. I stayed in my room and heard my mother open the door. There was a few minutes of greeting. Then came a knock on my door.

“Come in” I said.

Jimin peaked his head first. “Hello!” he called with a smile. He had bought flowers again. This time it was orange tulips. He handed me those.

“Are you a florist?” I asked. In reply, Jimin just laughed.

I was still not over yesterday. I had a feeling that I had shared a somewhat bitter-sweet relationship with the boys. Nina had told me that the boys were trying their best to be better. I asked her what that meant. She just shrugged her shoulders and told me that she would let me figure it out eventually.

“Are you still mad?” Jimin asked pouting his lip. He looked too cute for me to remain mad at him.

“Jimin,” I said, “will you tell me something honestly?” Jimin sat beside me and said, “Ask away.”

“Why are you guys being so nice to me?”

“Because we care for you.” Jimin said. Before I could say anything further, he added, “I know, you might be having some doubts. But trust me, we really do.”

I felt like I could trust him. I pushed my suspicions away and said, “So tell me, what we are going to do?”

Jimin grinned, “Just wait and see what I have in my mind.”

It was true. There weren’t any fun games left that we didn’t play. Starting from painting old stuffs, we played video games, card games and board games, we even played a little hide and seek around the neighborhood. Finally at night, we watched a movie together.

Jimin really had a charm about him. It was hard not being happy around him. Unexpectedly the day went too good. Even my mother noticed that I was happy. And when I went to sleep at night, I was already missing Jimin.

*************************************************

Day 6: Taehyung made a valid point…

I waited for the next Bangtan boy to arrive. I really had fun with Jimin that I was regretting being rude with Namjoon and Jin. I told myself that these boys were probably very fun loving and made jokes without thinking about the consequences. I let Nina’s words assure me that they were trying their best to be better.

The sun had already sat when Taehyung showed up in my house. I was getting a little angry at that time.

“Why bother coming at all?” I asked him first thing once we met.

Taehyung said, “eeeh” to show me his teeth.

“What was that for?”

“I had a sudden toothache” he said, “had to see a dentist. It was really scary.” Then he started massaging his cheeks.

“Aww!” I said, “I’m so sorry, dear. Does it still hurt?” Taehyung pouted his lips and nodded.

“Since its already dark,” I continued, “wanna go sky gazing?”

“Yes! Let’s do that.”

We were lying down on our back in the backyard. There were not much stars to be seen. But staring at the empty sky was somewhat peaceful. I was thinking about how my life had turned out, how little I knew about myself and others. It was really overwhelming.

“I’m scared for the first time since I woke up.” I said to Taehyung.

Taehyung looked at me and asked, “Why are you scared of me?”

“I’m not scared of you, silly!” I chuckled, “I’m just scared about the fact that I’m all empty inside.”

“You’re not.” Taehyung’s voice suddenly sounded very serious, “You’re still the same you. It’s just the memories that’s gone.”

“But aren’t memories what make us who we are?” I asked, turning to face him.

“I don’t know. But hey! We can always make new memories.” Taehyung tried to cheer me up, “Why don’t you take it as a fresh start; a new chapter of your life?”

“A new chapter” I whispered, “at least I’m glad I have you guys.”

*************************************************

Day 7: Yoongi showed his humorous side…

“I can’t believe it’s raining at this time of the season.” Yoongi said. He was a little grumpy today. He had planned to surprise me by taking me to see the local basketball match. But due to bad weather and the fact that the match was to be played in the open, it was cancelled.

“It’s alright, Yoongi!” I put my hand on his shoulder, “take me there some other time. You should be happy that it’s raining or else Nina would have showed up.”

Yoongi gave a fake smile, “Oh yeah! Thank God that Nina is not here today.”

Since we couldn’t find anything interesting to do, we tried to solve an extremely hard puzzle, which exhausted us both. We couldn’t even find any interesting topic to talk about. We were getting bored at a point when Yoongi suggested to make a bucket list each for the next 10 years to come.

I said, “Tae told me last night that it was a new chapter of my life. Making a bucket list sound like a good place to start.”

“So without further ado, let’s get started.” Yoongi bought two pieces of papers and pens for us and we both started to write whatever came to our minds.

“Number one: Go see the Egyptian Pyramid.” I said aloud while writing.

“Number one for me would be going to the city, Barcelona” Yoongi wrote.

So we kept writing. What food we wanted to taste? What classics we wanted to read? How many pets we wanted to own? What our future home would be like? Etc. etc.

“Number 27” I said, “Experience a burning and passionate love.”

Yoongi paused to think his number 27. Then with a smirk, he said, “Help you experience a burning and passionate love.”

We both broke out into laughter. It was rather hilarious hearing a grumpy boy like Yoongi saying something so silly.

< Previous || Next >

My Masterlist

My Guardian Angel - Part 3 (Final)

Fandom: BTS Paring: Min Yoongi x Female Reader Genre: Angst Warning: Age gap, mc being a brat, traumatic past, mention of abusive household, a little depressing, I’m sorry it ended this way. Word Count: 2k Words Note: Since the reader is only 15 years old, I reduced Yoongi’s age to be 22. Please keep the age gap in mind before diving in to read. I must say there is nothing explicit in here.

Summary: When things are bound to fall apart, You find out how powerless you are to the destiny...

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 [Complete]

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I was beyond angry. Yoongi just informed me that today was the last day in town for me till next month. He was going to be working on the weekends as well with only a day off per month. That meant, no more coming to the town for grocery shopping.

"But I won't forget to buy you a present, kitten. Also you can buy more than one thing when you're coming to the store yourself once a month."

"I don't want your stupid gifts." I angrily said, "I want you. At least, on a weekend."

"Kitten," Yoongi sighed, unable to deal with my raging state, "I'm sorry. You see, it's not something that I can control."

"Fine." I yelled, "get out of my sight. I'm not going home with you."

"Kitten…" He tried to speak but was interrupted by a lady.

"Is everything alright, dear?" The question was directed toward me.

"Yeah, everything's fine. We're just having a discussion. Thank you." Yoongi dismissed her concerns which seemed to be irritating her somehow.

"Are you sure you're alright?" She asked me again. When I nodded my head the lady further asked, "Who is he? Do you know him?"

"Excuse me!" Yoongi said, "I don't see why you need to know that."

The lady still asked me without bothering to look at him, "is he threatening you?"

"What?" was Yoongi's reply.

I shook my head. Then, the lady turned to Yoongi and said, "Sir, I'm very concerned about this child. Please state your relationship to her."

"That's none of your business." Yoongi answered bitterly. He grabbed my wrist and walked straight to our car.

"Sir…" the lady called from behind but we simply speeded our walk and got in the car.

I wanted to apologize for reacting like that in the store earlier and for gaining unwanted attention. Somehow I couldn't manage to do it as I felt a growing lump on my throat.

Yoongi, on the other hand, looked disturbed. I wasn't sure if it was because of the lady or myself.

In the evening, I sat on the bed while Shelby lay beside me. She stayed too quiet as if she understood the dull atmosphere of the house. I ran my hand through her. She moved closer to me and relaxed in a more comfortable position.

Yoongi was cooking outside. I dared not to go to him at the moment. I felt that something wrong was going to happen and I dreaded its arrival. I tried to plan the best way I could apologize to lift his mood. After all, it was my fault that the day went to ruin.

Then I heard a car being pulled up outside. I froze.

Could it be…

I peeked through the window and got a glance of a police car. “Why are the police here?” I thought to myself. Unconsciously I started biting my nails.

I could sense that Yoongi was talking to them outside. A dull ache was twisting within my stomach.

After a few minutes, Yoongi came inside, his face unreadable. He spoke quietly, “Kitten, you need to come out for a moment. Here’s an officer to meet you. Please talk to him nicely.”

I nodded slowly and, almost in daze, walked outside. The man in a police uniform greeted me. He asked me to sit down. After we’re both seated at the patio, the officer asked Yoongi to leave us alone.

“No!” I immediately opposed it. “He’ll stay.”

Yoongi said, “I won’t interrupt, sir. I’ll just stay beside her so that she doesn’t feel too nervous about this whole situation.”

The officer nodded and turned to me. He said that he had to ask me some questions and I was required to answer them honestly. I needed not to be  scared. When I approved, he proceeded to ask me where I came from, who was my guardian, what happened that made me run away from home, how I met Yoongi, how long had I been living with him, if I considered him to be a dangerous man etc.

I answered him truthfully. I told him how abusive of a man my step father was. I told him all the evil things he had done to me. I told him how my life was a living hell before I met Yoongi.

Every now and then, whenever I faltered in between, Yoongi would softly squeeze my hand. It was hard for me to bring up the nasty past. But I had to do it. I had to convince the police that it was my own decision that I ran away and still my own that I stayed with him.

Finally, the police said that I could go. Yoongi took me inside and whispered to me, “you did bravely, kitten.”

Then, he went out to have a last chat with the police. I waited patiently and prayed that the man would leave us soon.

The man, to my horror, did not leave us soon. In fact they were talking for so long that my anxiety got the best of me and I had to eavesdrop from inside the door.

Luckily, they were talking loudly enough for me to hear them. Unluckily, it sounded as if they were arguing over something.

Yoongi's voice was deadly, something I never heard before, "you heard everything!"

"I know, I know," the officer spoke in a frustrated manner, "But what you're asking is against the law. I can even arrest you right now for keeping her for so long without any legal rights over her."

"Will you?" It wasn't even a question. Yoongi said it as if he knew the police won't do that.

"Yoongi," the man spoke softly, "I know you very well. I know what you've been through. I also know from how you're treating her that you truly care for her. I still ask you to give it a rational thought. She doesn't belong here."

"What do you mean by here?" Yoongi argues further, "she clearly loves this place."

"She might love the place. I only meant she doesn't belong with you. She deserves a family."

Yoongi looked him dead in the eye and said, "I'm not letting her go back to that monster, you hear me!"

At this point, I was really getting scared. I didn't know if it was because of the idea that I might have to go back to my stepfather or about the fact that Yoongi was so mad, which was really unlikely of him.

"I assure you. She's never going to see him again. We're gonna call the social service. They'll arrange a nice Foster home for her."

"Oh, shut up!" Yoongi retorted, "I know how those Foster systems work. She might never be adopted. Especially at this age."

"At least, she'll have a chance for a real family. This is only for her own good."

"I don't trust anyone."

"You know you're only saying that because you don't want to lose her, right?"

Something about this confrontation with the police made Yoongi go silent. He didn't reply. It neither looked like he's going to argue any longer.

After the brief moment of silence, it almost took my utmost willpower to stay put at my place and not run straight to them begging Yoongi to say something in my favor, the police finally spoke.

"I'll give you tonight to say a proper goodbye. But I'm coming back tomorrow, along with the social service. I hope you won't resist, then. Otherwise, you're gonna be in trouble, I tell you."

The man finally left without waiting for a reply.

"I heard everything." I said after waiting for a minute for Yoongi to settle in bed. When he looked like he wasn't going to say anything back, I proceeded further. "I'm sorry I made a scene at the shop. I know it's all my fault. Oppa, please, don’t stay mad at me."

Yoongi finally looked back at me and said, "rules are rules. I don't have any control over this situation. They're gonna be here tomorrow and you'll have to go."

"Oppa!" I yelled at him. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He was giving up on me. He wasn't fighting to keep me anymore.

On the verge of tears, I asked, "Are you punishing me for what I did earlier?"

"No!" Yoongi stood up from the bed and came towards me, "You know, I'll never punish you for anything."

"Then, why are you doing this to me?"

"It's for your own good, kitten. Out there, you can at least dream for a new home. A new family. Here, you have nothing to even dream about."

"But you are my home."

I took a step forward and rested my head on his chest. "You're the best thing that I can ever wish for. You are my only family."

Yoongi slowly shook his head. He pushed me away by holding me by the shoulders. He made me look into his eyes and spoke very politely.

"It wasn't me who saved you but the other way around. You showed me everything that my life was lacking. Thanks to you, I felt like I truly lived. No, kitten. I can't be so selfish to keep you in this boring life of mine and take advantage of you like that. You deserve a chance in life. Unlike mine, you have a whole future ahead of you."

I couldn't understand what was going on. How suddenly everything changed in Yoongi. How willingly he was pushing me away.

"But I don't want to go."

"You're too young to understand that."

As I opened my mouth to argue further, Yoongi shook his head to shut me up. He said, "please, kitten, I want you to do better than this. I'm tired. I'm going out for a drink. Sleep tight till tomorrow."

Then, he went out with a bottle of whisky in his hand. I wasn't allowed to leave my room when he drank out on the patio. So, like always, I stayed inside. I stayed and cried. I cried on my pillow throughout the night till sleep took over my messy mind.

The next morning, we didn't talk much. We were just busy packing my bag. At one point, Yoongi came up to me with his guitar and said, "Since you love it so much, I want you to keep it."

I didn't say that the reason I loved the guitar so much was because he played it. I loved the fact that he played the guitar for me whenever I asked him to.

I decided to leave behind the little fox plushie. So Yoongi could have something to look at whenever he thought of me.

When I saw the car approaching from far away, I felt like I would break down anytime and cry. Surprisingly that didn't happen.

I scratched behind Shelby's ear and gave her the last piece of treat. I hugged Yoongi for the last time too. After that, without a fight I climbed inside the car.

As we were driving away, I thought I would take a good look for the last time at the place I called my first home. The place looked hauntingly empty. I looked at the familiar window, the front patio, our jeep, trying to take in as much as I could. 

My eyes finally stopped at Yoongi. His head was bending towards his feet so that I couldn't make out his face. I noticed that his shoulders were shaking.

I didn't need to try. Tears automatically flowed through my cheeks. All this time I had been at my worst, Yoongi was always there beside me, offering the warmth that I just needed. And the one time of him being vulnerable, I couldn't be there beside him, offering the same warmth that he had given me.

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