𝘖𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳 | JJK |

22

Jungkook stroked the strings of the guitar that sat abandoned at a corner of his studio. Faint notes sounded from the instrument at his touch. There were too many memories associated with this guitar, most notably of its owner; all of them he held too close to his heart to let go. The soft notes of the strings were like the ghostly echoes of her. It was all over his home. Everywhere he went, he found her mark. A lost lipliner under the chairs or a pair of forgotten earrings on his desk. They were all still here, but she was not.

Jungkook had believed that it was for the best. He'd thought this was the only way she would stay safe from the hands of Lys. He could handle the pain, he could live with hurting her, he could pretend to forget and live like she never happened at all if it meant that she would remain sound. Yet, the news of recent events was beginning to make him question whether he had done quite the contrary.

Convincing Juran to look into what happened to her was no easy feat because Juran believed it was only his humane desire to stalk his ex. But Jungkook was determined to know what happened to her. If Heiran was in danger, he had to know.

After all, it was all his fault that she was dragged into his troubles.

When Juran had finally managed to gather the intel and send it to him, what he read made him terrified. They had tried to get to her in his absence. Was it because they knew the incident at Itaewon was his deed? Was this a warning? A payback? The possibilities made his heart pump harder. Thank the creator a thousand times, he couldn't express how relieved he was at the news that Heiran had managed to fight off two adult men on her own and get to safety. He was so unbelievably proud of her for doing that all on her own. Had he been by her side, Jungkook would have made sure those criminals saw the doorsteps of hell for ever daring to lay their grimy hands on her. Had he been there, she would have never had to go through that trauma.

Heiran's voice resonated in his mind. "I don't need your protection!"

He felt a sad smile tug at his lips. She was always so strong, so brave. It was true; she didn't need his protection. She didn't need him. Yet, he couldn't help but wonder: Was he wrong? Had he really stripped Heiran of a layer of defense with the breakup? Was he the one responsible for leaving her vulnerable? Was he the cause of her troubles?

Before he knew it, his growing frustration had made him punch the wall. Red smeared on his walls and now his knuckles were a bloody mess much like his heart.

Jungkook sucked in a sharp breath, trying to calm himself.

Jungkoon wasn't going to stay put. If he really was responsible for the danger Heiran was currently in, then he couldn't sit still and let that happen.

* * *

Heiran lay on the sofa and held the anonymous note she had in her pocket above her face, reading its contents over and over again. It was a handwritten one with two ominous sentences.

There's an invisible line before you that shouldn't ever be crossed. The moment you do...

You will enter the point of no return.

It was obviously a threat. The question was its source. How was it delivered? How did it get inside her pocket? Considering the day that it was delivered, the two most likely suspects were her assailants. They must have snuck it into her pockets while they were trying to abduct her. But the conclusion made as much sense as Yoongi being a vocalist.

She would have also included Detective Jin Taesan on her list if it weren't for the fact that he wasn't standing close enough to her to place it in her coat pockets unnoticed. But then who was it?