The next day my brother and sister came home from their mission. Sakura immediately went doctor mode on me. She never left my side for a second. Always tending to my cough or when I threw up. She was with me through it all. A few months after that, I got my
The next day my brother and sister came home from their mission. Sakura immediately went doctor mode on me. She never left my side for a second. Always tending to my cough or when I threw up. She was with me through it all. A few months after that, I got my
stitches removed. It was one of the happiest days of my life. The thing I was nervous about, though, was seeing the scar. I knew it wasn’t gonna be pretty. I kept trying to avoid looking at it but now I had to.
“Are you ready to see it?” My brother asked me as we walked to my room. Sakura was with us too.
“Not really.” I reply.
“Why?” Sakura inquired.
“I’m just scared that it'll be really ugly.” I admit.
“Scars tell a story, Akari. They’re never ugly.” My brother chimes in.
“That’s debatable.” I shrug as we walk into my room. I step in front of the mirror.
“Are you sure you’re ready?” Sakura asks. I nod, unsure of how it’s gonna look. I take a deep breath, shut my eyes tightly, and lift up my shirt.
“Ok, three…..two…one.” I peek one eye open. Then the other. I stare at my side. It’s ugly but I can’t stop staring. I tear slides down my cheek. I look at Sakura and rush into her arms. “I hate it.” I cry. She rubs my back.
“Akari,” she starts. “It’s fine. It’s just-“
“No it’s not fine.” I snap at her. “I look like a monster.”
“You do not.” Sakura says. She slightly pulls away from me and brushes my cheek with the back of her hand. “You’re beautiful, Akari.” I shake my head. “One scar does not define you.” I look at the floor. “Look at me.” She lifts my chin up with her finger. “You’re beautiful.” She pulls me to her chest and I wrap my arms around her. “What’s wrong with it?” She asks.
“It’s ugly. I have a freaking scar on half of my side. It looks weird. I hate it.”
“It’s not ugly. Scars make you, you. Without this scar, you’re just like everyone else.” Aikoku says.
“I’d rather be like everyone else.” I say.
“If you’re here like everyone else, you wouldn’t have stuck out to Taehyung. Where would you be now?” Sakura asks. “Akari, Taehyung likes you because you’re different from all the other girls here. He chose you out of all of them. He’s not gonna care about your outward appearance. Not that your outward appearance isn’t beautiful.” She chuckles. “But Taehyung likes you for your heart, if that’s what you’re worried about.” She says. Her words calm me a little bit.
“I guess.” I shrug and pull away from her. I wipes the tears from my face.
“And if he doesn't see your inner beauty then he’s not the right person for you.” Aikoku says. I nod.
“I have the best sibling in the whole world.” I say, hugging them both.
“We love you so much, Akari.” My brother says.
“I love you guys too.” We hugged for a while.
“Mr. Kim said that you have to slowly work your way back to the top. He said you can start training with us again tomorrow.” Sakura says. Just then the door opens. We all look towards the door and Taehyung slowly walks in.
“Am I interrupting anything?” He asks.
“No. We were just leaving.” Sakura drags Aikoku out of the room, leaving me alone with Taehyung. I smile at him and he smiles back.
“What’s wrong?” He asks me. I look at the floor and sigh. A tear slides down my cheek and walks right in front of me. I keep my eyes to the floor. He wipes the tear with his thumb.
“I saw my scar.” I say quietly.
“Hmm.” He says. “Let me guess. You think it’s ugly?” I slowly lift my eyes to his. Before I say anything, pushes me to the wall. I gasp. “Let me see it.” He reaches for my shirt.
“No.” I quickly block his hand.
“Why not?” He asks.
“I don’t want you to….” I stop.
“To what?” He lifts my chin with his finger and I look at him.“To what?” He repeats himself.
“To think of me any differently.” I finish.
“Why would I do that?” He asks.
“I-I don’t know.” I look to the floor again.
“Akari, you don’t have to be ashamed.” He says softly. “I have a pretty severe scar too.”
“Really?” I ask intrigued, looking back up at him. He nods.
“Wanna see?” He asks.
“Sure.” I reply. He lifts up his shirt and turns around. There was a long scar that ran all the way up his back. “What happened?” I trace my finger over the scar. He puts his shirt down and turns back to me.
“I was on a mission and I was cut with a knife just like you.” He says.
“How have I never seen this before?” I ask. He shrugs.
“I never thought it was an important detail about me. But I guess it is now. When I first saw my scar, I was *ed. *ed at the person who cut me, *ed at myself for not being more careful, and I was *ed at my father for making me go on the mission. I thought the scar was the ugliest thing in the world. But my mother told me that scars are there to remind us who we are.” Taehyung says. I smile at him, almost in tears. “So no matter how ugly you think your scar is, it’s there to remind you of all that you went through. How you made it through a dark time in your life.” He finishes.
“But mine is harder to hide than yours.” I protest.
“So don’t hide it. It makes you who you are.” He says. I burst into tears and he hugs me.
“How did I get so lucky?” I cry into his shoulder. “You’re the best boyfriend I could ever ask for.” He chuckles.
“I know.” I pull away from him and light smack his shoulder.
“Ok. Here.” I take a deep breath before lifting my shirt up a little. I look at his face to see his reaction. He smiles as his fingers move across the scar.
“Akari,” He starts. I close my eyes, scared of what he might say. “It’s beautiful.” I gasp and open my eyes.
“What?”
“I said, it’s beautiful.” He looks at me, grinning. I blush. “I don’t care what the scar looks like, you’re beautiful. Your face, your heart, even your scar is beautiful, Akari.” He says, hugging me. I cry again.
“Taehyung,” I pause to calm myself. “Why me?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, why did you choose me? Out of all the other girls here, why me?” I ask. He chuckles like it was an obvious answer.
“Because you stood out.” Just like Sakura had said.
“I’m glad you chose me, then.” I say.
“Me too. Now don’t judge yourself. You’re the only person who sees yourself differently.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“I am. Trust me.” He grabs my face and kisses me. He moves his hands to my waist as I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him back. He tightens his grip on me and pulls me closer to him. A while later we both pull away slightly out of breath. Out of nowhere I burst into tears. “Hey, what’s wrong?” He chuckles.
“I don’t know.” I laugh too. “I’m just emotional right now.”
“I can tell.” He hugs me close. “Calm down.” He comforts me. I take a deep breath.
“I’m good now.” I say, pulling away from him and grabbing his hands. “Thank you, Taehyung.”
“Of course. I don't like seeing you upset like that. It hurts me when you're hurt.” He replies.
“I can tell.” I echo his words and chuckle. “Now let's go get lunch. I’m starving.” I take his hand and we walk downstairs.
“There are the lovebirds.” Aikoku says, walking up to me. “Are you ok?” He asks.
“Yeah.” I hug him. “I’m ok.”
“Are you sure?” He asks again. I nod and smile at him. “Good.”
“Now I’m starving.” I say, walking into the dining area.
“Hello, Akari.” Mr. Kim says as I walk into the room.
“Uhhh, hi.” I reply.
“You and Taehyung seem to be getting really close.” He says eerily. Luckily the others walk in.
“Ready to eat?” Sakura asks, sitting down.
“Oh yeah.” I laugh, sitting next to her.
After eating lunch, Taehyung and I took Yeontan on a walk in the front yard. We let him off the leash since the mansion was surrounded by gates. He ran around the yard for a while but got tired pretty quickly. We were all sitting on the ground watching him and he ran into Taehyung’s lap. He started licking his face.
“Ok buddy. That’s enough.” Taehyung says, pushing Yeontan away from him. Yeontan wags his tail and runs to me. He climbs into my lap and paws at my stomach.
“I’ll pet you, buddy.” I scratch behind his ears. He wags his tail then starts barking. “It’s ok buddy.” I pick him up. He tried to wriggle from my grasp but when I don’t let go, he bites me. “Ow.” I set him down.
“Hey no biting.” Taehyung reprimands Yeontan. Yeontan ran inside the house. “Are you ok?” He grabs my arm and examines where Yeontan bit me.
“I’m fine.” I say. “I’ve had worse.”
“I promise he’s had his shots already.” Taehyung jokes.
“That’s ok. It didn’t really break the skin.”
“But still. He shouldn’t have bitten you. I don’t know what happened.” Two seconds later Mr. Kim walks to us.
“That explains it.” I whisper to Taehyung. He glares at me.
“Hello father.” Taehyung bows. He elbows me to bow too. I reluctantly bow.
“I know you just recently recovered from your injury, but I need you two and your brother and sister to go on a mission. It’s an overnight mission.”
“Father she can’t. She just-“
“I’m just as capable as you.” I cut off Taehyung. “Don’t treat me any differently.” He sighs and rolls his eyes.
“What is the mission?” Taehyung asks.
“You just have to spy on the North Koreans.”
“Easy enough.” I say.
“You leave immediately.” Mr. Kim says, walking away.
“Akari, you just-“
“Taehyung, stop. I’m fully recovered. That doctor said so himself. If you have a problem, take it up with him.” I cross my arms.
“But you haven’t practiced in months. Are you sure you're ready to get back out there?”
“I’m sure. I love going on missions. It’s the best part of my job.” I say. “I’ll be fine.” I place a hand on his shoulder. “Especially since you and the others are gonna be there too. Plus we’re just spying this time.” I reassure him.
“Fine. But don’t be mad at me when I don’t let you do anything.” He says. I hug him.
“I’m just glad to be back on the field.” I respond. “Just promise not to be paranoid.”
“I’ll try.” Taehyung grabs Yeontans leash from the ground and we walk inside. “Let me go get the keys.” Taehyung says, walking out of the room. I stand patiently by the door.
“You better not get too close to him.” Mr. Kim says from behind me. I turn around.
“What do you mean?” I ask him.
“I’m just saying, not everyone here is trustworthy.” He shrugs.
“Like you.” I say under my breath.
“What was that?”
“Oh nothing sir.” I bow. He walks closer to me.
“I’d watch it if I were you.”
“Where are the others?” Taehyung asks and Mr. Kim puts on a smile.
“They’re probably still upstairs.” I reply, turning away from Mr. Kim.
“I’ll go get them.” Mr. Kim says. He walks up the stairs. I haven’t told Taehyung about my suspicions about his father. I mean he’s his father for gods sake. I just don’t know how Taehyung would react if I told him everything that Mr. Kim has told me. I’ve told him a little bit, but not much.
“You good?”Taehyung asks, hugging me from behind. I smile.
“Yeah. I’m excited to go on my first mission since..ya know.”
“I’m glad you're excited. I just want you to be careful.” He says. I lay my head back on his shoulder.
“You worry too much.” I reply, chuckling.
“Well last time I didn’t worry, this happened.” He traces his finger over my scar. I sigh.
“That wasn’t your fault. For the millionth time.” I turn around and face him. “And stop worrying. It’s cute, but there’s no need to worry.”
“Ok.” He smirks all of a sudden. “Wait, did you just call me cute?”
“Maybeeee.” I grin, slightly. He grabs my face and kisses me. I wrap my arms around his waist. He leaves a trail of kisses down my jawline to my neck.
“Get a room.” Aikoku says, walking into the room. I pull away, rolling my eyes at the same time.
“Oh leave them alone will you.” Sakura says. “Continue. We’ll look away.”
“You ruined the moment anyway.” I roll my eyes. “Let’s just go.” I say as we walk out to the car. Taehyung’s driving, my brother’s in the passenger seat, and Sakura and I are in the backseat.
“Is Aikoku just as overprotective as Taehyung?” I whisper to my sister.
“Heck yeah. He’s just better at hiding it than Taehyung is.” She whispers back. “One time, though, I was trying to retrieve a hard drive and Aikoku literally tied me to a pole to keep me from going inside and-“
“What are you two talking about?” Taehyung and Aikoku exchange glances at each other.
“Nothing.” Sakura and I say at the same time. We both hold back laughter.
“Well fine then.” Taehyung rolls his eyes at me in the mirror. I chuckle. Sakura and I talk for the rest of the ride. When we arrive Taehyung parks the car in a dark alleyway and grabs his bag as we all get out of the car.
“Where did your dad say we had to go?” My brother asks.
“He said somewhere near the forest. I’m not sure exactly.” Taehyung answers as we walk carefully out of the alley. We walked down a narrow road until we made it to the outskirts of the town. We walked next to the river until we found a clearing.
“This is perfect for camping out.” Sakura says. We all agreed and sat down.
“My father said they won’t be here until nightfall.” Taehyung says.
“So what should we do until then?” I ask.
“I have a few ideas in mind.” Taehyung smirks at me and sits next to me.
“But we’re still here too.” My brother points out, annoyed. I chuckle a little.
“I guess we can all just talk.” I suggest. “Cuz that’s what I was implying the first time.” I glare at Taehyung, teasingly. “Why do we have to stay the night here? If we finish our mission early, can't we just go home?”
“No. My father closes the gate to the mansion at midnight. So we have to stay the night either out here or in the car.” He answers.
“All in favor of sleeping outside, raise your hand.” Everyone raises their hand. “Then its settled. Plus it’s way nicer out here than in the car.” I point out. We all sat in a circle and talked until evening. When it got dark, we all decided to search in pairs. Taehyung and I walked north of the river and Sakura and my brother went south. We were also very careful because we’re walking near the river. Taehyung held my hand the whole time.
“Why are you being so paranoid?” I ask him.
“Because I don’t want you to get hurt again.”
“I won’t.” I reassure him.
“Wait, look.” Taehyung bends down and picks up a pendant. “It’s the North Korean Mafia pendant.” He points out. I walk ahead of him a little.
“Taehyung, are we close?“ I ask him. The sound of the river is really loud so he can barely hear me. I turn around. “Are we clo-“ I freeze. “Taehyung?” I call, a bit worried. Could he have fallen into the river? My heart quickens. “Taehyung!?” I rush to the river edge. “Taehyung, where are you?” I call. I hear a rustling behind me. When I turn around Taehyung’s laughing behind me.
“Who’s the worried one now?” He crosses his arms. I scoff and stand up. I walk to him and punch him in the stomach.
“It’s not funny.” I turn away from him, trying not to cry.
“I deserved that.” He hunches over, holding his stomach.
“Yeah. You did. I thought you fell into the river.” I sigh as a tear streams down my cheek. “Don’t do that again.” I demand.
“Ok.” He chuckles. “I’m sorry.” He hugs me but I push him away.
“Yeah, whatever. Let’s just look for them.” I start walking towards the forest. We walk in silence until we hear a fair murmur of people talking. “Do you hear that?” I ask him.
“Yeah. Shhh.” He puts a finger to my lips and walks towards the sound. He stops when he gets close enough to hear what they’re saying. “Go get the other two.” He whispers. I nod and carefully make my way back towards where we started. “Sakura! Aikoku!” I call. I nearly ran into her because it's so dark.
“Hey. What’s wrong?” She asks.
“Oh nothing. We found them.” I say. We briskly walked back to the spot where Taehyung was waiting. I ran into Taehyung because he was so quiet.
“Sorry.” We say at the same time. We both awkwardly look at the floor.
“What's up with you two?” Aikoku asks.
“I uhh… I pranked her. And she got mad at me.” Taehyung answers.
“What did you do?” My sister asks him.
“He hid in the forest while I panicked like an * thinking he fell into the lake.” I answered angrily. “He scared the * outta me.”
“Well now you know how much Akari cares about you, Taehyung.” Sakura grins at me. “She only gets mad about stuff like that if she really cares about you. She’s done the same thing to me and she ignored me for an entire day.”
“Oh really. You care about me that much?” He walks closer to me.
“Well yeah.” I look up at him. “Of course I do.” I smile. “So don’t do that again.” I smack his shoulder.
“I’m sorry. I truly am.” He hugs me.
“It’s ok, I guess.” I chuckle and wrap my arms around him. We were about to kiss when my brother interrupted us.
“Ahem. We should focus on the mission.” He says.
“Yeah sorry.” I pull away from Taehyung and sit on the ground. We all sit in a clump in the dark until we see a fire start. It’s only a few feet away but we’re far enough to hear them without being caught. As long as we’re quiet.
“Did you seal the arrangement with Jon-woo?” A man asks. I look at Taehyung. He mouths ‘that’s my fathers name’ and I nod.
“Yes I did sir. We will meet him tomorrow. His son Taehyung will be married off to the Master's daughter to seal the deal.” A second man says.
“What?” I say a little too loud. I smack my hand over my mouth.
“What was that?” Man number one asks. “Did you hear that?” Sakura smacks my shoulder.
“Sorry.” I whisper. We all stand up and take a step back.
“I didn’t hear anything sir.” Man two says. Wait man two sounds like-
“Ok then. Jungkook, make sure Master's daughter is ready for this marriage. Once the two of them are married, Jon-woo and his gang will be ours.” Man one laughs maniacally.
“Taehyung did you-“ I start. He puts his finger to his mouth signaling me to be quiet. I roll my eyes. We all sit back down.
“We’ll have Taehyung by tomorrow.” Jungkook says. “We better get some sleep for now. We have a long journey ahead of us.” He suggests.
“Good idea.” Man one says. “I will see you in the morning.” All goes silent. Taehyung’s getting married? It takes me a second to ponder what’s happening. Then, there’s a crunch in the forest and we all whip our heads towards the direction of the sound.
“Hey guys!” Jungkook says emerging from the tree’s. “Did Mr. Kim send you here to spy on us?”
“Yeah he sure did.” I answer standing up.
“Well he lied.” Jungkook says. “We’re supposed to kill these guys. There are seven of them here. We kill them, then we capture the leader. He’s in the largest tent over there. Once their leader’s gone, their gang will be in chaos for a while. Mr. Kim will then overthrow them.” Jungkook explains.
Taehyung’s POV
“My father told me we only had to spy.” I protest.
“Weren’t you listening? He lied to you.” Aikoku says.
“But Akari-“
“Can fight as well as you.” Sakura says.
“Akari. You can just stay back here and-“
“No, Taehyung.” She interrupts me. “I’m fine.”
“Awkward.” Jungkook whispers to Aikoku.
“Let’s go.” She says, walking towards the camp.
“Akari wait.” Jungkook calls.
“Nope.” She walks into their camp.
“Well, well, well. Traitor.” The first man says to Jungkook, grabbing Akari’s arm.
“No. You’re just stupid and gullible and-“
“Stop right there unless you want something to happen to her.” He threatens, holding a knife to Akari’s neck. Sakura gasps.
“Ok fine.” Jungkook raises his hands in surrender. “But I am not a traitor.” Jungkook holds a gun to my head.
“Jungkook stop.” Akari demands.
“My apologies Akari. I can’t.” He responds. “I made a deal.” He cocks the gun and pulls the trigger.
“No!” Akari screams. The guy holding Akari falls to the ground. She looks at Jungkook.
“I thought you were gonna kill him!” Akari yells at Jungkook and gets in his face. “You could have killed him and-“
“Calm down, Akari.” Sakura says? Pulling her away from Jungkook. “It’s ok. Jungkook’s on our side. Snap out of it.” She shakes Akari.
“Yeah. I’m fine.” I mock what she said earlier. “Don’t worry so much.” She rolls her eyes at me.
“We’re running out of time. We have to kill them all so let’s hurry.” Aikoku says, walking towards the camp.
“Let’s go.” Akari pulls out her gun and follows her brother.
“Ok then.” I say. We all walked into the camp. We kill most of the men in their sleep. Only four of them woke up and gave a fight. Once killing everyone, except for their leader, we crowd in front of the leader's tent.
“It amuses me how you think you can defeat me.” A voice says from inside the tent. “You’re just too slow. My daughter is here waiting for her betrothed.” The man steps out of the tent with a girl, a few years younger than Akari, tied up with a rope.
“Your daughter?” Akari questions. “Why is she tied up?”
“Because she’ll try to run away if I don’t have her tied up.” He answers. “I could care less about her. I just need her and…you.” He points at me. “To marry so I can overthrow your fathers gang.” He throws his daughter to the floor and pulls out a gun. “Now who here do you love the most?” The man points the gun at Sakura first. “Is it her?” He looks at me. The only way to protect everyone is to not react. “No. How about her?” He points his gun at Akari. I take a deep breath to steady myself. Akari glances at me. “It’s her.” He grabs Akari. “Now all of you drop your weapons or I’ll-“ The man’s eyes widen. He drops the gun and falls to the floor.
“No!” The daughter yells. She hobbles over to her father. “Don’t kill him. Please don’t kill him.” She pleads.
“It’s too late.” Jungkook says. “I’ve hit him in the heart.” Jungkook pulls the knife out of the man. “It's over.” Akari bends down next to the girl.
“Please don’t hurt me.” She cries. Akari smiles.
“I wasn’t planning on it.” She starts untying the rope.
“What are you going to do to me?“ The girl asks, terrified.
“Well,” Akari starts. “You can come with us if you want to. Or you can run free. Free from your father and start a new life.” Akari steps back and lets the girl decide. The girl runs to Akari and hugs her.
“Thank you.” She cries into Akari’s shoulder. Akari smiles.
“Of course.” Akari says.
“Can I stay with you guys?“ she asks.
“Of course you can! I’ve always wanted to have a younger sister.” Akari’s replies. The girl smiles.
“And I promise I don’t want to marry Taehyung. It was my fathers choice.” She says.
“I could tell.” Akari laughs. “Let’s go. We’re supposed to sleep here so we better get as far away from here as we can.”
“I’m Aera, by the way.”
“I’m Akari.” Akari introduces herself. “That’s my sister Sakura.” Sakura waves. “That’s my brother Aikoku. That’s Jungkook and that’s my boyfriend. You already know his name.” Aera’s eyes widen.
“You’re dating him?” Akari nods. “And I was gonna marry him?” Akari nods again.
“But not anymore.” Sakura says. “You’re freed from that. Let’s go.” We all walk away from the campsite. Sakura wraps her arm around Aera’s shoulder as we walk in the dark. I take Akari’s hand.
“How do you know we can trust her?” I whisper to her.
“Taehyung, she’s like 15. She’s helpless. It’s fine.” She replies.
“What if she’s dangerous?” I ask. Akari laughs.
“Calm down.” She stops walking as the others continue. “If anything happens, we can execute her easily. But she’s so young and innocent. Nothing is going to happen.” She kisses me. “I promise.” I sigh.
“Ok fine.” We continue walking down the path.
“Tomorrow when we get back, I’ll continue training so that I’ll be better for the next mission.” She says. “Then you won’t have to-“
“Aikoku stop!” Sakura yells. Akari runs toward them.
“What’s wrong?”
“He fell into the river!” She yells over the sound of the rushing river. I start to panic.
“Aikoku!” Sakura cries and sinks to the floor. I start unbuttoning my shirt.
“Taehyung what are you-“
“I’m gonna save him.” I say, throwing my shirt to the ground.
“You can’t!” She protests. “It’s a rushing river who knows what could happen. Taehyung you can’t.” I start walking towards the river. “Stop!” She puts her hand on my chest. “We’ve already lost him. I can’t lose you too.” I pause and look at her.
“You’re right.” I say.
“Thank you.” She releases me. But I can’t just watch him die. I pull her into a kiss.
“I’m sorry.” I run past her and dive into the river. The icy water engulfs me and my body stiffens. It takes me a second to realize that I’m still underwater. I thrash my arms around and search for air. My head makes it above the water and I take in a large breath before going under again. I come above the water long enough to barely see Aikoku’s body floating downstream. It takes all the power in me to swim towards him. The current keeps yanking me under the water and I’m half drowning at this point. I’m exhausted but I have to make it to him. I swim further but my muscles are tiring out. I don’t think I can go further. Just then my body slams into a large boulder. Aikoku’s body is trapped between two rocks. I grab hold of the boulder and pull Aikoku as hard as I can. He comes free and I wrap an arm around him. I push off the rock and start swimming towards the edge. It’s hard enough swimming in the rushing water but now I have to carry Aikoku with me. My muscles are telling me to stop swimming but I can’t. After a long time, the river calms down and it’s easier to swim.
End of Taehyung’s POV
Taehyung begins unbuttoning his shirt. I hope he’s not doing what I think he’s doing.
“Taehyung what are you-“
“I’m gonna save him.” He throws his shirt to the ground.
“You can’t!” I yell. “It’s a rushing river who knows what could happen. Taehyung you can’t.” I’ve lost almost my entire family. I can’t lose Taehyung too. He starts walking towards the river. ”Stop!” I yell at Taehyung and push him backwards. “We’ve already lost him.” I sigh, holding back tears. “I can't lose you too.” My voice breaks. He looks into my eyes.
“You’re right.” He says. I sigh, relieved.
“Thank you.” I say. Taehyung grabs my waist and kisses me. No. He can’t.
“I’m sorry.” He says, pushing me aside. He runs to the river edge and dives in. “No!” I scream and run after him.
“Akari stop!” Sakura grabs my arm and stops me.
“Let me go!” I scream and try to free myself from her grasp.
“No! It won’t help!” She yells over the river.
“Stop!” I start to cry and eventually stop struggling. I crumple to the ground. “No.” I sob. Sakura hugs me.
“Come on.” Jungkook says. “The river calms down over here. We may find them down here.” He reaches his hand out to me. I take it and he helps me stand up. We all walk downstream. I constantly glanced at the water to see if I could see them anywhere. They’re too far downstream already.
“Come on Akari.” Sakura says. I didn’t realize that I had stopped walking. She takes my hand and guides me. We walk until the water calms. It’s pitch black outside so it’s hard to see. The only reason I know we’re still by the river, is because I can hear it. We walk a little further and Jungkook stops.
“Right here.” He bends down. “They’re both here.” I rush to his side and bend down next to them. I start doing compressions on Taehyung and Jungkook does the same on Aikoku.
“I’m alive here.” He says, taking a deep breath and sitting up. I hug him so forcefully that he falls over with me on top of him. He laughs.
“Taehyung, I hate you.” I sit up and smack him. “I told you not to and you did it anyway. You scared the heck outta me. Don’t ever-“ he pulls me back down, placing his hands on my neck, and kisses me. I’m still really mad at him but I kiss him back anyway. I have one hand on his bare chest and the other combing through his hair. He moves his hands to my waist and deepens the kiss. After a while, I slowly pull away from him and shift my gaze to my brother.
“Jungkook?” I look over at my sister who’s in tears. “Jungkook.” I say, barely over a whisper. A tear slides down my cheek.
“I’m sorry.” Jungkook stands up and walks away. My sister rushes to Aikoku’s side. She goes hysterical, screaming and crying. I kneel next to her and cry silently. My sister suddenly gets up and walks towards the river. I follow her.
“Sakura?” I grab her arm. “What are you doing?”
“All my life, I’ve had to be the strong one. For you. For Father. Well, mom’s gone. Father’s gone. And now, the only person who I’ve ever been able to confide in and not stay strong for, is gone. He’s gone. And maybe I’m insane here, but Akari it’s just you and me. Our family name is gone. So why should I even be here?”
“No. Sakura, don’t say that.” I pull her away from the river.
“No.” She yanks her arms from me and grabs her gun, pointing it to her head.
“Sakura stop.” Taehyung demands, walking next to me.
“Don’t take another step.” She threatens.
“Sakura, this won’t fix anything. Please.” I plead. “Sakura, I love you. I need you. Please. Drop the gun.” I take a step towards her and she tenses. “Please.” The gun falls to the floor and I rush and hug her. She cries into my shoulder. “You don’t have to be strong for me.” I cry. “It’s ok to cry once and a while.” She doesn’t answer.
“I’m sorry Sakura.” Aera says. “I know how hard it must be to-“ Sakura charges at Aera.
“Don’t even say that.” She grabs Aera’s collar. “You don’t know how it feels.” She shoves Aera to the floor. I rush to check on her.
“It’s ok, Aera.” I say, helping her stand. “She just needs time.” Taehyung holds Sakura back so she can’t harm anyone.
“Let me go.” She tries to escape his grasp.
“Sakura calm down.” Taehyung says. “Don't make me give you a sedative.” Sakura continues to struggle. Taehyung motions for me to grab the sedative from his backpack. I rush to the backpack and grab it from the front zipper. I take a deep breath before jabbing the needle into my sister's arm. She struggles for a moment longer and then goes limp. Jungkook walks back towards us as Taehyung lays Sakura on the ground. I walk back to the spot where we left my brother but he’s not there.
“He’s gone!” I panic. “Where is he? He was right here. Where’d he go?” I start crying. “He’s not here.”
“Hey, hey calm down. He couldn’t have gone far.” Taehyung walks next to me.
“Then where is he, huh? We left him here. It’s not like he could get up and walk away.” I say. “He’s gone!”
A few hours later…..
I lay on the ground next to my sister who’s still asleep. The sedative worked really well. Aera’s on the other side of Sakura and Jungkook’s next to Aera. Taehyung is next to me. I lie on my back and look up at the stars. Everyone else is asleep. Too much has happened today. I don’t know how to process it all. My brother drowns. Then his body suddenly disappears. My sister goes insane. I found out that Taehyung was supposed to marry Aera. Aera becomes my adopted younger sister. And all in a few hours, everything changed. I cry just thinking about all that I’ve lost. I only have Sakura. Taehyung shifts positions and faces me. I turn my head to look at him and he’s asleep. I smile and brush his face with my hand. He smiles in his sleep. I carefully and quietly stand up and walk to the edge of the river. We set up our sleeping bags near the calm sort of the river just in case. I sit down and put my feet in the water. I swear Mr. Kim has it out to get us. I mean it can’t be a coincidence that I nearly died on my last mission. My brother died on this one. I’m just paranoid I guess. I sigh as a branch cracks behind me. I turn around and see Jungkook walking towards me. He sits down next to me.
“Can’t sleep either?” I ask him.
“Nope. Not when the person I love most isn’t doing well.” He admits. I smile. He loves Sakura. I put my hand on his arm.
“I never got the chance to thank you.”
“For what?” He looks at me.
“For saving me. I heard that you gave me a blood transfusion when I was…ya know.” I smile at him. “So thank you.”
“Well, like I said, when the person I love most isn’t doing well, I’ll do anything for her.” He takes my hand and my eyes widen. I quickly pull my hand from his.
“Jungkook I’m sorry but-“
“I know. You’re with Taehyung.” He sighs. He kisses my cheek, stands up, and walks back to his sleeping bag. I sit there dumbfounded. What just happened?
“What just happened?” Taehyung asks, echoing my thoughts. I stand up.
“Taehyung I-“
“Did he kiss you? Wait, you let him kiss you? Akari I thought-“ I cut him off by hugging him.
“Calm down. I only want you.” I say, releasing the hug.
“Phew. Good. I thought I was gonna have to beat someone up.” He chuckles.
“Not this time.” I start walking back to everyone else. “Goodnight Taehyung.” I say as he lays down beside me.
“Goodnight.”