Tzuyu's POV

"Quick— there's a person in there!"

The sound of fire engines and the foamy water spraying from the hoses deafen my ears as my mouth drops open in pure shock.

Jimin and Jungkook's apartment.

Is on fire for the second time.

Next to me, Jimin watches his house go up in flames with strangely blank eyes— like somehow he'd expected this from the beginning.

And when I glance over the shoulders of the firefighters, I recognize the face of the man that'd nearly broken my wrists a few days ago.

Why was he...?

His hair is burnt black, and I can see through his ragged clothing the burns on his skin. And Jimin still watches this without a single change in expression.

Why was he in their apartment in the first place? Had he broken in and entered?

Then Jimin suddenly taps the shoulder of the police officer that'd gathered from all the commotion.

"Arrest him, please." He says, and my eyes widen at what he says next. "He broke in our apartment to kill a person."

_______________________

Two hours earlier

"Wait— we're not going back to your apartment?" Mira asks in surprise as Jimin shakes his head, motioning us towards a grumpy Yoongi.

"He needs help with— um, housework." Jimin excuses, and all our faces instantly twist into a frown.

"Housework? For someone I don't even know?" Mira huffs as Dove looks at us in confusion. Only when Jimin signs her does her face look uncertain, eyes glancing back and forth from the dozing man.

Yoongi rolls his eyes, yawning.

"Come on— I don't have time for this." He grumbles as he finally crosses his arms. "I'll let you use my TV, fine."

"We all have TV's." I shoot back. "Why can't we just stay at yours like we've done for the last few days?"

"There's people coming to finalize the renovation." Jimin says, eyes pleading. "It'll really just be a while."

"I promise."

_________________________

Jimin's POV

By now, Jihoon would be checking his microphones to see if his targets were still where he thought I'd placed them.

The call finally goes through, and Jin hyung's voice rings from the other side.

"Chimmie! Did you—"

"Hyung, did you edit the recordings from the microphones Mira placed? Does it sound like three girls having a normal day at their house?"

"Oh that— I already have it hooked up on the speakers around your apartment. Should I start playing now?"

A relieved sigh racks through my body.

"Thanks, hyung. Yeah, that'd be great. I'm really—"

"You didn't forget the deal, right?" He asks, and I smile for what seems to be like the first time in ages. "You better have not forgotten about the deal."

"Yeah, hyung— I'll get you a new mirror." I say lightly, glancing towards the girls disappearing with Yoongi hyung. "How did you even break the old one, anyways?"

"N-None of your business!"

Drawing a hand over my face, I walk over to where Taehyung is. Even though his face is pale, he grips a steaming cup of tea tightly in his hands as he looks up at me.

"Did Jungkook know?"

"What?"

"Did Jungkook know?" He repeats, staring down at the mug. "That he was going to be next— that he was going to go through that?"

"He knew. But he didn't know how." I swallow as I motion at the tea. "Drink it. It's good for your health."

He sips unconvincingly.

"And Tzuyu?"

"They're going to be safe. Any moment, my apartment's going to go up in fire. This phone," I say, holding up the device. "Is going to ring any second."

"How do you know for sure?"

"This is exactly what's going to happen." I say, forcing him to take another sip. "Jihoon's going to go over to the wrong apartment, thinking that the girls are still there. But it's just the speakers with Jin hyung's edit."

"He's smart— which means that he'll realize the moment he walks in that he's been tricked. But by then, the door will already close behind him."

"And I'm guessing you and Jungkook bought every lock at the market and tried it all out?"

I laugh.

"Not every. Just a few. We were looking for locks that left the door unlocked at first and locked the instant the door closed next."

Taehyung leans against the headboard of the hospital bed.

"Smart, Jimin. Did you have Jin hyung set up a fire mechanism, too?" His eyes narrow. "Were you planning to kill him from the beginning?"

"No— a fire like that can't go unnoticed any longer than it takes to kill him."

"And then I'm sending him straight to jail."

_________________________

Tzuyu's POV

One hour after Park Jihoon's arrest

"That's why you've been doing all that suspicious stuff with the speakers and whatever? I actually thought you finally went a bit crazy when you told me to install microphones." Mira says as Jimin finishes explaining.

She hands him a drink.

"Stupid genius— making us all look so stupid." I say playfully, slitting both eyes at V.

"And you knew about this?"

He shrugs, because he knows that pisses me off.

"It was all to keep you safe, Tzuyu." He mumbles as he tugs on his bandages, ignoring the glare I shoot him. I'd already told him five times to leave them alone.

"We didn't know what you might've done if you knew about this— we might be smart, but we're not that smart. And my head already hurts from all this."

V groans as he slacks down onto the bed, pulling the covers back over his face. My lips purse when he shifts towards the opposite direction.

Kim Taehyung.

"Wait for me!" I hear Jimin call when Mira slips out the door, claiming she still had a job to do. "Wait— I still owe you a coffee!"

When the door closes, I jump him.

And when I say jump, I mean jump.

A shocked sound chokes from his lips as I pull away the covers, plucking the dark cap from his head with a confused look on my face.

"And why are you wearing this again?"

"Because it helps me breathe." He says, plucking the cap back and pushing it over his head. "C-Can you get off me now?"

"Not until how you tell me how a cap is supposed to help you breathe." I say curiously as he tilts his head down at an angle so I can't see his face. "That doesn't make sense at all."

"No— we're not having this d-discussion." He says, and I smile as I lean closer.

"Are you stuttering?"

"Stop." He says firmly, pressing his palm against my forehead and pushing me back. "Too close."

"You've never complained about that before." I muse, thinking what could have possibly led to the V in front of me.

Blushed ears, cap shoved down as far as it would go on his head. And he was stuttering on top of that— not to mention that he wouldn't meet my eyes the entire time I've jumped him.

I giggle.

"I'll tell you this a thousand times if I have to— you have nothing to be worried about."

______________________

IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTE (also info about the next book I'm starting)

So first of all, I want to thank you guys for reading this book! Without all the support you guys gave me, I don't think this book would be here.

And now the new book...

Enigma— a Kim Taehyung ff. I've actually given this a lot of thought because I received mixed feedback on the female MC, and I was trying to find the best solution for this.

I know I've continued Taetzu for a while, but I've decided to make the female character basically who you choose to be. And since you guys are already familiar with how I've used other names for Tzuyu in the past, I hope this won't be much different if you were hoping for another Taetzu.

This book will be more kind of on the softer side compared to my other ffs, considering that Taehyung in this story can literally be considered as a seven year old trapped in a eighteen-year old body.

Please give this one as much support as you've done for this one (the first chapter is released fyi)

Love you all! 💕