Bittersweet

47: The Black Ship of the Bunch

The door flung open with a loud noise. Everyone's eyes were on the most desired man of the hour. Drenched in sweat, his appearance rather messy. A perfect lover in distress. His gaze menacing. He looked around,
"Who was it?"
Taehyung jumped on Namjoon, his fists tightly holding his collar,
"It was you, wasn't it? You were the rat in the system! I should've thought beforehand. Your love for Jennie Noona. It was the turning point, wasn't it? Hyung, why? How could you? If only... You didn't rat on our system then maybe..."
"IT WASN'T HIM TAEHYUNG!"
Jennie pushed Taehyung away from strangling Namjoon. Taehyung panted, as if he had just ran a marathon,
"THEN WHO THE FUCK WAS IT?"

"It was me."
Three heads turned towards one corner of the room where Kiera was standing, in sync. Their jaws were on the ground as they all were flabbergasted. Kiera just smiled at the man next to her. Park Jimin.

"I'm going to call you by your name cause I know your name.
Kiera..."
"It's Queen for you!"

"Anyways, take a break. We've got a tip and if the tip's true. We're going to need every one of us. Bye."

"Excuse me, Me a Traveller. I not know where this is. Sorry. Help?"
"Yeah, why not? Lemme see."

"Did you tell her tho?"
"Yeah sort of... I didn't get to tell her the magical three words."

"Lisa, we haven't got much time, how's it going on the otherside?"
"Hobi and I have got it under control. We are soon going to start the operation. Any news from Kiera?"
"Yeah, start the operation on..."
"Jimin, Taehyung Oppa..."
"What happened to Taehyung?"
"He-he collapsed in his office today."

"Well atleast you tried. You would find a next time."
"Of course..."
"Tell Lisa Unnie, 'on the 13th' okay? Jimin Oppa?"

"You are late again?"
"Sorry babe. But this whole Queen situation..."

"Yes, I helped my friends Taehyung. I did something to repay what I owe to them. We all here do! We all owe to them! And this was the safest option Taehyung. I just wanted to help them out."
Jimin said, memories flashing by. Flashbacks of the whole plan in front of his eyes. He was the king of this game and it was an easy checkmate.

----------------Flashback-------------------

"You seduced him in one go? You really got something"
Kiera looked up, her chaotic gaze falling on the handsome man in front of her. His eyes glowing? Tears? She just chuckled and rolled her eyes,
"No one can look away from me.. They all come back for a second look. Whether it be lust, attraction, jealousy or pure hatred. People always get hooked to the Queen. You know me, Jimin Oppa."
A tear softly glided down his eyes. He smiled, scrunching his eyes,
"You remember me!"
"Was I supposed to forget you Oppa? You were the goody two shoes of our bunch. You and Chaeyoung Unnie to be precise. And that Hot Stuff? He was trouble. Look at him now, he's changed. You've changed. We all have changed. But not enough to forget about what we've gone through. Together."
Jimin's laugh vanished into thin air. The ghost of his past driving him crazy. If only he didn't leave them back then.
"Kiera, all these years, the guilt's driving me crazy. The guilt of letting you go. Not just you, but Kookie, LiLi, Hobi Hyung, Yoongi Hyung, NiNi. Everyone! I never helped you guys. Not one bit. Taehyung helped you with pick pocketing. Jisoo, Chaeyoung, Namjoon Hyung, Jin Hyung stood up for you guys. But I was just a stupid coward..."
"No you weren't. But still you can help us. Help me break free. Help us break free. Jimin Oppa, the world awaits us."

-------------End of Flashback-----------

"Taehyung they are the only family we know. Namjoon Hyung, Jisoo what would you do if you were in my place? Would you deny her and stay guilty forever? No, I can't! Besides, after so many years, I felt like a human again. I paid the debt I owe to them. We all owe to them. And I'm not at all GUILTY."
And it was pin drop silence. Rosé found a sense of pride flow through her veins. The Players smiled at each other and their Queen. Jisoo cleared her voice,
"You know that's illegal, right?"
"So is love. But we all eventually fell in love, didn't we?"
Taehyung's head hanging low. He fiddled with his fingers. He felt so damn hollow inside. He felt as if everything was mocking him. As if he was on the verge of insanity. He bitterly chuckled, his gaze empty,
"We all fell in love. Some of us stayed, the others didn't. But wasn't the sneaky love worth it? Hiding under the nightsky. Hiding for each other. Jimin, just why didn't you tell me? Tell us?"
"I couldn't risk the secrecy of the plan. I'm sorry."
"So you pulled it off all alone?"
Namjoon's voice deep and soft. His words wrapped in genuine worry for his friends.
Jimin just chuckled. His eye smile was shining brighter than any precious diamond.
"Hyung, in chess, the most valued piece is the King. But you know on which piece the game stands on? The Queen. My Queen. Park Chaeyoung."

"Sunbaenim, she's a criminal..."

"Here! Stuff your mouth!"
"Rosie Posie did it again."
"What did you just say?"
"Wanna hear a story?"
"WHO ARE YOU?"

"My mother traded me for bucks! Then when Kim Su-Bong couldn't make any use of me, us, she threw us out! And then I had nowhere to go! Ofcourse my mother won't take me back! Do you think I had a choice? Do you think I would leave behind Kookie or you or anyone else behind if I had the option? Hell no! But we had no option left! It was just us! 6 teenagers! We were just left on the streets! We are just thankful that we managed to find resources like Jin Oppa's parents! Otherwise we would have died! After all we didn't recieve a privilege from Kim Su-Bong!"
"It's just a fictional story, Blondielocks. I don't know what you talkin bout."
"You bitch!

"Tzuyu no! Leave her!"
"Oh no! I was out for 6 hours for her. I'm not letting her go that easily!"

Yeah... Rosie told me about the stories and how accurate it was."

"You need to be careful Kiera. You have always something or someone stuck on you."

"Rosé, we are just paying them back. Besides, today Lisa would find us, it's not the other way around. Lalisa is witty enough to not blow her covers. Calm down."
"Jimin, do you think... I mean... Should we... Whatever we are doing... You know... Right?"
"Trust me. We are not doing anything wrong."
"Come on Roseanne Park. It's nothing. Besides we are on a date. Everyone knows we are going out. We should get time for ourselves too. Even Sunbaenims allow it."

"Yeah... I'm Park Chaeyoung. But I was born in New Zealand, so my english name is Roseanne Park. You can call me Rosé as well."

"You fat ass! I'm not going to feed you another grain if rice for the next 5 days!

"I'm sorry Jimin."

Really? What have you even done for me? Look at Taehyung Oppa! He made such a grand gesture to prove his love... That too towards a criminal. Namjoon Oppa smuggles flowers and icecream for Diamonds. But you! You, Park Jimin, are so careless that you don't even have time for me! You never give me time! I'm always waiting... And you? You only have time for work. For your past hardworks. I'm just nothing to you... If this is what it is. Then I suggest we should break up."

"I know you aren't drunk Park Jimin. I just needed you so I drove by. Tonight's the 13th."
"You know the way Roseanne."