CHAPTER SEVEN
it's yours.

"Hey, I've been trying to reach you-" I pause the moment I don't hear her voice. "Annora? You there?"

"It's Dawn." the voice spoke out softly.

"Dawn? I thought Annora wanted to speak to me? What are you doing with her phone?" I bombard her with questions the moment confusion engulfs me.

I hear a faint voice at the background and I start speculating. "Is that Jungkook?" I ask and she hums.

"Anyway, Annora wanted me to say that everything's fine and we miss you." Dawn says and I couldn't help but get suspicious.

"Wait, where is Annora? Why do you have her phone?" I ask once more as soon as she dodges my questions.

"She- she can't come to the phone right now and- oh, look! Pizza's here. Anyway, we go to-" And I overhear a faint scream from the back and jolt.

"Who was that?" I exclaim on the phone, feeling helpless and useless being thousands of miles away from home.

"No one- we- I have to go." And the call ends abruptly, leaving me speechless.

"You good?" Jin peeps from behind me.

"Yea," I breathe out. I stare at my screen, my mind blank and heart void of emotions. I didn't get what was happening. Was Annora in trouble? Or was this another one of my delusional thoughts?

A ring rips through the fabric of my thoughts, pulling me back into reality and I shot the telephone a glare.

"It's him again." Jin was close to singing.

"Send it to voicemail. Again." I say, not being in the right state of mind to handle him. I couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't.

"Taehyung has been calling you the entire week, he even stopped by last night. What happened between the two of you?" He questioned as he spun on his chair, arms held across his chest. He tilted his head back, eyeing my form intensely as he waited for a response.

"I don't know." I sighed, sitting in front of him.

"C'mon," Jin nudges me lightly, wanting me to verbalise the thoughts that swarmed my head.

"I said I love you to him," I say, not knowing what else to talk about without sounding insane.

"The L word?" He gasped dramatically, his hand flying over his mouth in shock.

"Jin," I groan.

"Okay, I'm kidding. What so bad about that?"

"We haven't been going out that long and- I don't know." I sighed, burying my face in the palm of my hands.

"Look, from what you told me, you guys have known each other for close to a year now. Love doesn't have a clock, if you feel it, you feel it." He shrugs as though he had just solved all my issues.

"Now stop avoiding him and take the damn call." He shoves the phone into my hands and I finally call him back.

"Jina?" His voice causes a stir within me.

"Hi." I let out a whisper.

"Is everything okay? I didn't know-"

"No, everything's fine. I'm sorry. Mona had me buried in work all week." Lies slip out almost naturally if it meant not upsetting him for some reason.

"Ha," Jin scoffs next to him and I shove him.

"Oh, are you sure? The art event's today but if you don't want to go it's fine, really." His voice causes a stir within me and for some reason I couldn't bring myself to say no to him.

"It's okay, I'll be there. I want to be there."

"I got worried when you didn't answer my calls." Taehyung started as we walked down the streets of Venice, towards the art gallery. "I know things were weird when we left and with what you said."

He's talking about the I love you, isn't he.

"You don't have to worry about that." I was quick to say

"I just want to say that I have-"

"No, it's okay. Really. You don't have to say it back." I pause, the both of us stopping in front of the gallery. "I love you, I do." I say and a shadow passes his face. "And it's okay if you don't feel the same way, I just needed to get this off my chest." I finish and he's silent, digesting the words I had just hurled his way.

"Let's go in, shall we?" I peep the moment he remains silent for longer than a second.

"O-okay."

I drag him into the gallery, wanting to be over with the conversation. We stroll mostly in silence, going by the artworks and trying to look beyond it.

I feel a tap on my shoulder awhile later and I look up at Taehyung who's pointing towards a direction. "Pieter Bruegel's works are right down that corner." He whispered, a subtle smile pulling onto his lips.

This time he drags me towards the painting and we halt, but for different reasons. "It's beautiful, huh?" He says as I stare at the wall with sheer terror.

I read the tag, purity behind love. And there it was. The demented figure that had been tormenting me. I turn to look at Taehyung, wondering how he wasn't looking at what I was and finally I realise he wasn't by my side. In fact, no one was.

I was alone, trembling in front of the painting that morphed before me. I glance back down at the painting where I catch more words on the tag.

The shadow self is ones darker side.
Love isn't about destroying this dark side, it's about taking it as your own.

And I frown. It was the same as the Art of Deceit. What Taehyung had written. However, four words began engraving itself onto the metal tag with a screech that tore through my ears.

I wince, pressing my eyes shut as I hoped for the noise that filled my head to disappear and it finally did. I pry my eyelids open, staring at the words that had been newly added with fear.

And now it's yours.

"Are you gonna get that?" The tap gets me to jump out of my skin. "Woah, I didn't mean to scare you." My reaction startles Taehyung whose hands are now on my waist, calming me down in front of judgemental eyes.

My sharp ring tone sounds once more and I finally realise I was back at the gallery, standing in front of an original Pieter Bruegel. I take a quick glance at it, The Fall of the Rebel Angels painting replacing The Purity Behind Love. I let out a quick breath, stuffing my hand into my purse and fishing out my phone.

I don't take a look at the caller ID and simply answer. "Jina!" The voice exclaims.

"Annora? Where have you-"

"I found the letter." She said and I feel everything crashing once more. I was either tormented by the demented figure or my baggage from Yeona. I couldn't seem to catch a break, even though I was miles from home.

"The-the letter?" I say and I feel Taehyung's grip on my tighten.

"I don't have time. Meet me at Woods Fields. Yeona-" And the line goes dead.

. . .

[unedited]