V

"Father."

"Stop the— Stop the damn lies, please."

My head hurts viciously. Blood streaks half my face, from forcing my way all the way through here.

But what is he...?

"She left." My father repeats, shrugging his shoulders. "I gave her the chance— she took it. You're welcome to search this entire place, Taehyung."

My jaw flexes.

Stop.

"You put her away somewhere." I hiss, feeling like I might just go insane. "Tell me where she is before I rip you to pieces. You did something to her. You—"

"If you really want to know."

With that fucking smile, he turns the computer screen towards my direction. There's a map— and a red dot, flashing in the middle. It heads towards the entrance to the Underground.

"That's...her?"

"I told you." He says. "Haven't you ever realized how living constantly on the run can break someone? Or have you just been too selfish with your own desires to notice?"

But my mind is set on something else.

"You put a tracker on her."

"Why—"

Then I feel the tip of a needle against my neck.

I instantly whip around, fist raised to drive a heavy punch into the bastard behind me when my father clicks his tongue.

"Kim Taehyung."

His voice is cold. And I breathe heavily when I see a pale blue dot appear on the map of the computer screen. The red circle continues to move away, towards the Underground.

"Realize the situation." My father growls. "Do you think this is the time to chase blindly after some useless girl? She left you, and she won't come back again."

"Serve as the heir that you were meant to be. I've put up with you enough."

"Step out of line, and I'll have that girl wiped off the map before you can ever see her again."

________________________________

JUNGKOOK

I find him in the place I expect the least.

He's in a place so open, against the outside walls of the compound. The blood on his hands and face have dried, leaving scarlet marks. His eyes are blank.

"Hyung!"

What the...

"Did you find Miss Aeri?" I hiss, gripping his shoulder. "Why are you out here like this?"

I shake him roughly.

"V!"

"Jungkook, go." He whispers. "Take Rin and leave. Before my father finds you. Go to the Underground and find her for me. Keep her safe for me, please."

I'd never been once felt more stupid than I feel now. Defeat fills V hyung's face, once hardened with resolve. He looks like he's lost everything.

"Father won." He whispers, barely audible and in muffled, disconnected sentences. "I'll have to do what he wants. He has her right there. But I don't understand why Aeri left me, Jungkook. Father must've threatened her with something but I just don't understand how—"

He suddenly looks up in my direction.

"Maybe she grew sick of me. Sick of the life that I gave her. I left her life in pieces."

I scowl.

"Hyung, she would've left a long time ago if that was true. Miss Aeri loves you."

"That night when you got shot, she did CPR on you for a straight ten minutes. She almost died herself trying to save you, and you think— you think she grew sick of you?"

"You're insane to even ask that question."

He falters. He stays silent for a while, before murmuring softly.

"He put trackers. On both me and her. It's injected into the blood— something that can't ever get rid of. My father has her in his palm, Jungkook."

"He said that he'd kill her the moment I went against him."

"So go," He whispers. "All I know is she's at the Underground. I have to stay."

How had things turned out this badly.

His voice is desperate.

"Find her, please. You can pick someone out from the crowd like the devil. Make sure she's okay— make sure she doesn't skip any meals. Take care of her."

"Please."

________________________________

The Underground

"It's still daylight," Rin says, looking so anxious out of her mind that I can practically see her jumping. "I have a couple places where Aeri could be— I'll be fine, I promise."

"...Rin."

She shoots me a look. "Might I remind you I've lived here my entire life? The people around here know me. I'll be okay, so go talk to your friends."

She blows me a kiss over her shoulder.

But I watch her back until she disappears around the corner. The memories of her, face pale with fear and shaking with the cold, is still too clear in my mind.

If I had it my way, I'd never let her leave my side again.

But I have to let Jimin and Yoongi hyung know.

_________________________________

"V what?"

Jimin hyung drops his sandwich. Yoongi hyung fixes an annoyed glare in his direction, wordlessly taking the rag on the kitchen counter and chucking it at his face.

"You better clean that up."

"You said a tracker?" Jimin hyung echoes, as he starts scrubbing at the floor. Then his face suddenly lights up, as if he'd realized something.

"The injector tracker!"

"...you know what it is?" I whisper, and he nods furiously. He chucks the used rag back at the sink, completely missing and earning another glare from Yoongi hyung.

"I was with the tech team for a little, remember?" He reminds, squeezing his eyes shut. "Dammit— I just can't remember what that thing..."

"What thing?"

"There's a specific substance that can flush out the entire tracker from the body without harming the person." He mumbles. His eyes squeeze shut even tighter. "It started with like, the letter m or like q or something!"

I stare at him as he sighs defeatedly.

"Hyung, you have to remember."

"I know, I know." He says, and Yoongi hyung shrugs his shoulders.

"Maybe it'll help if I don't feed him for a couple days. Completely clears the mind, you know—"

"Stop joking." Jimin hyung growls. Then he continues to think, the concentration deepening on his face. "Okay. So the tracker is like...it's made out of a bunch of microchips in a liquid. Once injected, spreads all over the body. But the chips are magnetic."

"Shit, I actually can't remember."

"You're an idiot." Yoongi hyung says flatly. Then he fixes his eyes on me.

"Jungkook, follow me."

His eyes are dark as he leads me into an empty bedroom, leaving Jimin hyung on the couch. He shuts the door behind himself. He cuts straight to the point.

"Is V okay?"

My jaw flexes as I think back to the last time I'd seen him. Never had I ever, ever seen him that aimless. He had looked like a shell of himself, in the snow like that.

"...no."

"Fuck." He curses under his breath. He sighs heavily, running his fingers roughly through his hair. "And he's stuck with his goddamn dad, too. This is just—"

He turns to me.

"You need to find that girl, Jungkook. You know that Taehyung deals with stuff like this the hardest."

"I know." I whisper. "I know, hyung."

My lips tighten.

Miss Aeri.

Where are you?