Paper Masks | ᴊᴜɴɢᴋᴏᴏᴋ

20 :: cardinal red

Jungkook parks the car by the dock, the two of you slamming the door shut and rushing as you step onto the docks. You strap on a bullet proof vest and a shoulder holster. Captain Kim is by your side and he quickly takes his phone out.

"I'll call the Coast Guard."

"No," you quickly hold his phone. He looks at you with narrowed eyes and you calm yourself explaining, "Captain, with all due respect, the second Taehyung sees boats circling the island, he will kill Lisa."

"What do you propose?"

Jungkook buckles his holster tightly and looks up, "Two officers. We take a small, quiet boat and go in under cover of darkness, save Lisa and arrest Taehyung."

"We?"

Jungkook looks at you, "Yeah. Y/N and I."

"Jungkook, stop being an idiot. We have SWAT teams trained for exactly these moments."

"Jungkook's right, Captain," you agree. "They don't know the case like we do and if you perhaps send some positive, happiness triggering tactical team, we might as well sign Xiaojun's death warrant. We know Taehyung, we know the way he thinks, what drives him to kill. We can talk him down, Cap. We can save Lisa."

Captain Kim looks at the two of you before sighing and shaking his head. "Alright. The two of you have an hour. After that I'm sending in every gun I've got. You hear that, Jungkook?"

The two of you nod. You finish suiting up and get on the boat with Jungkook. 

"Take this flare gun, Jungkook," Captain Kim passes it over to him. "If we lose communication and you need back up, fire it off. I'll have half the Coast Guard on that island in three minutes."

"Thanks, Cap. I love you," he winks and Captain Kim smiles. His face is filled with nothing but worry and you can feel it. Jungkook tucks the flare gun into a holster behind his belt. 

"You ready, Jungkook?"

"Now more than ever."

━━━━━━━━━━━

Lisa is on the roof of Cellblock A, tied to a chair. She looks around, heaving for air, feeling her consciousness slowly reaching back to her. To one side, the buildings juts out over the ocean. Taehyung stands by the corner, preparing something. Lisa notices him gazing out into the ocean, wearing a mask and readying a syringe.

He walks towards her. "You're nothing like her. You were nice to me. So nice to me that it hurt. It made me think that you were crazy. Lisa, were you? To like someone like me?" He laughs, the sound resonating in the silence and vast of the ocean. 

Lisa can slowly feel her hands as she tries moving them, her gaze still fixated on Taehyung. She knows that if she can stall him enough, she could free himself from the bondage. 

"You don't have to do this, Taehyung," her voice is raspy as she tries persuading. 

"I do! That's not my name." He gazes out and over the water and Lisa tries working on her wrists. The bindings are rough, but they are starting to loosen.

"Vante," Lisa calls out for him.

"So what if you know my name?"

"Names matter. Where you come from matters."

Taehyung raises an eyebrow, "And you're telling me you care?"

Lisa doesn't lie. "I do. You know I do. You're not a monster. I know you. I can see that." She tries flicking her wrists unbeknownst to Taehyung. "What happened to you?"

"You really want to know?" He looks around at the Island, chuckling. "This is where it all began and this is where it will all end."

Taehyung looks away, his eyes gazing on the small iron bars Lisa can barely make out from the roof. "It was 2004 and my mother took me and that woman to Alcatraz Island – here – before she sent me away. They all thought I was crazy. Why did they bring me then? They wanted me gone but they should have never brought me in the first place."

"Is that why you hate your family? Because they locked you away?" 

Taehyung turns to look at the woman tied up. "For a while, I suppose yes. I did resent them for that." Lisa works on her wrists tirelessly, her eyes still fixated on the one he likes. He continues, "But in the end, I deserved it. I deserve every terrible thing that has happened to me. I'm not like you, Lisa." He leans over and Lisa stills. Taehyung brushes his fingers against her jaw. "I'm different. I'm sick. I'm a stain."

"Why? What did you do?"

Taehyung moves back and exhales deeply. His gaze returns back to the water. "That's what she always told me. That I'm a stain. That I was disgusting and that she couldn't wait till I was gone. I couldn't control my anger. It surged within me, Lisa. Like it spread all over. I picked up a rock from along the water's edge and hefted it at her when she turned."

Lisa inhales sharply. 

"You should have seen her," his smirk widens. "Blood trickled down her head and the side of her face. She fell forward, face down in the shallow surf. All I could think was that she was disgusting. That she was the stain. That she made me like this. I jumped on her back." Her eyes widen and Lisa is afraid. "I pressed her face into the wet sand. She struggled against my grip but my hatred was so big. Do you know what was the most beautiful? Her face was covered in a mask of fine, white sand."

"That's terrible," Lisa's voice cracks.

"Yes," Taehyung looks at het for a second. "It was the most terrible moment of my life, but it was also beautiful."

Lisa works on her wrists, the bindings chafing her hands but they loosen up, bit by bit. Taehyung continues, "I showed the world her true face that day. Everyone saw my sister as someone perfect. Even my mother did. However, that day I exposed her true face."

Lisa shakes her head helplessly, "Taehyung, you need help. We will get you the help. Please. You don't have to do this. We can help you."

For a minute, Lisa sees the eyes she had fallen so in love with in Taehyung. It is tender and affectionate, innocent and helpless. She begs, "Just let me go. I'll help you. I want to help you."

Taehyung stops in his tracks, hesitating, looking at Lisa with eyes glassy and confused; and then there is a scuffling sound from the other side of the building. He runs over and sees a small boat docking.

He looks betrayed at Lisa, "You were trying to stall me!"

"No," her face tightens in panic. "Taehyung, I wasn't!"

"Shut up!" He turns away and draws out his silenced pistol. He walks away, down the stairs only after shooting at the wooden piece next to Lisa, the woman hollowing into herself in fright. "I'll go take care of them and after that, it's your turn."

Lisa shudders. She really did love a monster.