ACT XV | SCENE LXXII

❝THORNS❞

THE GUARDS BARELY got the gates open in time before jimin sped inside at an alarming rate. he drifted the car to a stop in front of the house, throwing the door open and stepping out quickly. the staff were instantly on edge seeing his dour mood. they had heard of the kidnap of his daughter but were still quite shocked by how teed off he looked as he stormed into the house.

"where is my mother?" he asked one of the maids tightly, teeth clenched so he didn't take his anger out on her. "in her private room, tending to her flowers." the girl quickly answered, noticing his testy mood. he moved towards the room, pulling out his phone to call junmyeon. "hello?" the man's voice came through seconds later. "junmyeon, the convenience store where the suspect was spotted, do we have any property in the area?" jimin asked carefully, still wanting to give his mother benefit of the doubt. "give me a moment, please."

there was shuffling on the other end for a minute and jimin waited patiently. "yes, we do. it's a small villa." jimin's eyes shut at his answer. "jimin?" junmyeon called when the man remained silent. "could you get a couple of officers to check it out?" he finally spoke. "what?" his secretary was confused. "have them check the place for rosalie."

"you think she's there?" junmyeon gasped. "i'm just playing on a hunch. but have them check it out. i'll call you back later." he shoved the phone into his pocket. he paused and took a deep breath – not wanting a repeat of what happened the last time he was in this room – before pushing the door open. his relationship with his mother had already become strained and he really hoped nari was wrong about her thought. hyunjoo looked up from trimming the thorns off a rose when he walked in.

"jimin," her low voice was surprised, alarmed. "why are you here?" she questioned. jimin pushed his hands into his pockets and pursed his lips, taking a deep breath. "mum, i'm going to ask you a question and i need you to be completely honest with me." he began slowly. "what is it?" she prompted, placing the trimmed rose in a small vase and picking up a new one. "did you have rosalie taken?" he let out softly, voice steady. the rose she was carefully holding fell out of her hand, pricking her finger in the process. her gaze moved to him.

"i-i... i'm sorry. i didn't mean any harm by it." jimin exhaled loudly when she stammered out her words. "mother, why?" he ran his hands through his hair, pushing the dark locks back away from his forehead harshly. hyunjoo ignored her bleeding finger, body shaking. "the plan was to take her for less than an hour and bring her back b-but then she said she wanted to p-play because s-she's never spent time with her new mamie. and i-i... it's really hard to say no to her. and it got really late and the whole thing blew up and i just-"

he shook his head incessantly, trying to convince himself his mother was not saying what he was hearing. "you could have said something, mother! jangmi and i were basically qui vive the entire night. she didn't stop crying all day yesterday and even this morning. we've been a mess, worried out of our minds, even father has been on edge and you knew where she was this whole time. you had her the entire time." tears began to stream down his cheeks. "i can't believe you would do this. to your granddaughter for god's sake! my child..." his voice trailed off, cracking on a sob. "how could you?" his eyes showed more hurt than anger as he stared at the shaking mess that was his mother.

"jimin-"

"i don't want to hear it, mother." he wiped at his cheeks aggressively. "there's nothing you can say to fix this right now. you kidnapped my daughter. for what? to confirm what i already knew? are your test results out? did they tell you anything new, hmm?" he glared at her. even in her state, the stunned surprise on her face couldn't be mistaken. "yes, mother, i know why you did it." his gaze moved up and a pained scoff left his lips. "if you wanted to know so badly, all you had to do was ask me to run a test and i would've done it for you no matter how much i'd have hated to."

he sniffed as the tears had resumed a steady trail down his cheeks. "i don't even know what to say to you. despite all the things you've done in the past, i never imagined you'd be capable of such. of something so ugly. my own mother. oh my god." the last bit came out as a choked whisper. his blurry vision could barely register the form of his crying mother. he turned around and faced the door, grabbing the handle, he pulled it open slowly.

"w-where are you going?" she asked, her tone frantic and scared. "i'm going up to my room, packing my things and leaving. i'm moving out, mother. i don't think i can live in this house with you after this." he didn't turn around to look at her as he spoke in a low but strangely stable voice. "jimin!" she called out, choking on a sob.

his head moved to the side but he still didn't look at her, eyes focused on the 'black' dahlias that sat in a vase in his direct line of vision, the irony of their significance not lost on him. "you should also think of how father will feel when he finds out. goodbye, mother." with that, jimin walked out, shutting the door behind him and leaving hyunjoo wailing into her hands with regret.

☀️☀️☀️

y'all thought he was going to go off like last time but nah i thought it'd be better if he played it cool this time. no yelling, just tears and disappointment. and i would tell you what black dahlias mean but leaving you hanging is more fun. google it haha. jk jk black dahlias actually symbolise betrayal. and it's in quotes because they actually aren't black but burgundy (lmao i thought of jin)
on a totally unrelated topic, bigshit tried to end my life with that fake love teaser but god got me