A/N: This chapter took me a while to write due to 1) how much I wanted in this & 2) contrary to having more time on my hands, quarantine made it hard to write. I hope that you are all safe during this time, wearing masks, & social distancing ✨

What V saw could only be described as his deepest fear; one he didn't realize he had until it was in sight. A fear that knocked him to the ground, left him watching on as the wrenching feeling deep in his stomach topples him over. He was numb and a voice in the back of his head repeatedly whispered 'this is over.'

In front of him was a monument to his incompetency; every lingering doubt that led to complete and utter hopelessness, every time he hesitated and it ended up being too late, and every minor mistake that left a crucial impact. It was all too far out of his grasp now.

It blew out the small flame of hope that kept him going, descending into a dark unlike any other and fueling his self-hatred and deprecation. The only thoughts running through his mind is how he could have prevented this, all of this.

As the door shut behind him, V slumped against it at the thought of being home. A place that should have felt safe, that should emanate warmth and security, held a menacing and unsettling air that always ran a deep chill down the length of his spine.

"You're back."

"Rika, I-"

"I told you not to follow me."

"You didn't leave with a choice, I had to see for myself what you were doing," he said, collecting himself as he pressed forward. "And this has gone too far, you need to end this."

"You know I can't do that."

"But you can, and I can help you," he said as he reached for her hands to fully plea, only to retreat right as soon as he made contact. "Please let me help you end this. I understand wanting to help those people, but this isn't the way to do it. Those are innocent lives you are hurting."

"You never understood my intentions and you never will!" She snapped, pacing the room as she spoke. "I'm saving those people from their pain! They look up to me, they need me! How can I turn my backs on them now in their time of need?!"

"This isn't saving anymore."

She scoffed at his words, rolling her eyes before continuing.

"You said you would be there for me, help me in any way you can. You said you would always put me and my needs first. What happened to that? Once it's something as big as this, you want me to stop?"

"Rika-"

A banging on the door startled V in his place, a momentary paralyzation until he heard the voice on the other side.

"V, Rika, open up right now!" He immediately recognized Saeyoung's voice, followed by incessant pounding that shook the door. He didn't hesitate to walk over, disregarding the argument at hand.

"What kind of sick fucking game are you two playing here?!" He hissed as the door opened, pushing passed him as he made his way in.

"Is everything oka-"

"You've got some fucking nerve to be asking that," he snapped, though his movements hadn't ceased as he rummaged through the drawers of their coffee table, moving all over the living room to find any sort of hidden compartment.

"Saeyoung, what has gotten into you?" Rika asked, taken aback by the intrusion.

He didn't answer, he simply pushed passed her to the hallway, opening each door until he reached her office. He flicked on the light and quickly rummaged through each drawer, the two watching in disbelief from the doorway.

"Well V and I were in the middle of something, I think you need to leave-"

"Found it!" He exclaimed, pulling out handfuls of letters from the bottom drawer.

"Care to explain these to me? And I want the real explanation," he emphasized his last words with a wave of the papers in his hand.

"I told you, these all piled up on the door of your shop."

"You and I both know that's a lie, now tell me the truth."

"Would I ever lie to you?" She asked, fearlessly inching towards him with the same uncanny smile.

"You are, you're lying to me right now!"

"I'm not, I told you I found these at your door."

"Then why did I see you leave them?!" He questioned, voice raising in demand.

She fell stunned, taking a step back at the venomous words aimed at her. Her gaze flicked between him and the letters in his hands, but she couldn't find it in her to look him in the eyes. Instead, they fell to her feet as she spoke.

"I-," she paused, collecting her words, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Unbelievable," he scoffed in annoyance, "I have video from a CCTV of you leaving letters taped to the door the same time we received them. I saw you do it, now tell me why?!"

She was at a loss for words, unable to find a response as her eyes continued to dart anywhere but his. His patience wore thinner, turning back to the desk and sifting through the documents that sat atop. He picked up a journal out of the pile, opened it up, and pointed at the writing on it.

"Is this not your handwriting?" He said, comparing the letters side by side, "It's a perfect match, now why did you do this?!"

She turned to V, looking for some sort of help from him only to meet an expression that was just as perplexed. He was stunned to see him like this, but he knew this was bound to happen. But he looked at her with slight curiosity as to how she was going to explain this.

"And why didn't you tell me it was her?!" Saeyoung's accusatory finger moved to the tall man behind her, "Why did you let her get away with this? You have no idea the mental hell you put us through, and for what?! Tell me why you two did this!"

He was fuming, jaw and fists clenched as he watched them flounder for an answer. A burning rage in his eyes that they had never seen before, practically scorching the two that couldn't bare to meet his gaze. A long, drawn-out silence only serving to further boil his blood before V broke it.

"Saeyoung, I-I'm so sorry, I-"

"Sorry doesn't explain it! I want an explanation!"

From his peripheral, V could see Rika contemplating her next words, looking over to him desperate for an answer. She could see the subtle plea in his eyes to tell the truth once and for all, a silent conversation that had Saeyoung frustrated as he watched the two.

"I was scared," she admitted, finally looking at Saeyoung. His expression hadn't shifted as he waited for her to go on.

"I didn't want to lose you and Saeran, I thought you two were slipping from me so I used scare tactics to keep you close. And I know it was wrong and I shouldn't have done it-"

"Lose us to what?" He interrupted, maintaining his stern gaze, "You're not making any sense."

"To MC," she said, sighing deeply as she continued, "I didn't get a good feeling from her and I saw Saeran falling in love way too fast. I thought it would lead to him leaving the RFA so I acted on instinct."

Behind V's shades was a downcast look of absolute disappointment. The frown on his face deepened slightly, eyes averting from the scene in front of him. He fought back a twinge at the ache in his chest, knowing that the amount of transparency in her statement was none.

"But I shouldn't have judged so quickly, and I definitely should not have interfered like I did. I'm sorry."

Her words sounded heartfelt, but something in her features contradicted it. Looking over at V, he found where that sincerity went.

"I can't forgive you for this, you're only sorry because I caught you in the act," he paused, collecting his thoughts, "I have to tell the others about this."

"No, you can't tell them anything," Rika blurted in a panic.

"Why shouldn't I? Give me one good reason I shouldn't get them involved."

"Because even though you're upset with me right now, I know you still want to trust me. There's a part of you that, passed this anger, still sees me as your guardian," she answered without skipping a beat, regaining her composure. She circled Saeyoung while speaking, as if sizing up her prey, "When I first took you in, I did everything I could to keep the two of you safe while having a normal childhood. I put you two before my own needs and I never regretted it."

He could still feel her unnerving ambiance fill the room in tenfold, but he couldn't help her words getting to him. He felt that maybe he owed her that much, a second chance. Her reasoning didn't add up, the air around this situation only making it more suspicious, but maybe digging deeper wouldn't turn up anything he didn't already know.

"This was all just a mistake that'll never happen again, trust me."

"You can't do this again, I won't give you the chance to even think about doing it once more. If I so much as see anything off about you, I won't hesitate to tell the rest of the RFA about this."

"I understand, and you have my word that it won't. But know my intentions were in the right place," she said, earning an exasperated, sarcastic laugh.

"You think that leaving threatening notes from someone that wants us dead is 'in the right place?' You think that fear mongering and convincing us that we're in danger correlates with good intentions?" He asked rhetorically, "I knew you were starting to become different, but I didn't realize you were becoming delusional too."

"Saeyoung-" V tried to intervene.

"No, I'm done with you excusing this! You told us you knew exactly who left these from the start, and you continued to let it happen!"

The silence that enveloped the room brought attention to the way his chest rose and fell heavily from tension, taking slow breaths to even out. His fists unclenched to reveal the way his nails dug and marked his palm. Once his shoulders fell, a sudden thought occurred.

"Where were you really?" he asked calmly, watching the puzzled look on V's face.

"The business trip you were supposedly on the last few days that restricted you from taking our calls. Where were you really?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Why not? If it really is just a case of an impulse decision going too far, if you're not hiding anything, then why can't you tell me where you were?"

"That," he started, looking over to Rika before settling on his words, "You're just going to have to trust me when I tell you that it has nothing to do with this. And that I won't let this happen again."

One long look at the taller man, and Saeyoung could see the dark circles under his glasses. His furrowed brows softening with every passing second. And the longer he stared, the more he noticed the features on his face seemed different.

This wasn't the same V from even a month ago. He seemed tired and worn out, the weight of the world on his shoulders and he couldn't quite shake it off. But the most noticeable were the bruises behind the dark shades. He was told not to worry about it before, but it only seemed to get worse.

"Alright," he settled, "I want to trust you. But this can't happen again."

"It won't, you have my word," V said.

Looking over at Rika, the same feeling of uneasiness from last night surfaced, but with it an anger bubbled in his chest. He couldn't look at her the same, no words to say as passed the two to leave.

"I'll walk you out," V said, following him down the hall and out the door.

Once they were outside and the door clicked closed behind them, Saeyoung noticed the large envelope in V's hand, eyes darting back up to meet his dark glasses. He extended it forward, waiting for him to take it only to receive a puzzled look.

"What is this?" Saeyoung asked, taking it hesitantly as he opened it.

"It's every piece of evidence I could find on your father's crimes," he said, much more collected than before, "Every election he rigged, hitmen he hired to take out his competition, allegation he avoided by paying someone to look the other way, and countless of other heinous acts. I spent years collecting these, waiting for the right time to expose him publicly and end his hold on the two of you."

The stack in his hand was thick, sifting through to see exactly what he was describing and more. Everything Saeyoung had found last night and much more sat in his hands.

"Why are you giving this to me now? Why didn't I get this sooner?"

"There's still a lot missing, but I felt I owed this to you now. I thought I could take care of this myself, but I've proven I can't. And I need you to help me end this now, I can't drag this on any longer."

"Once you feel like you have enough, I'll help with handling this information," V continued, "But with this, I have to ask that you keep everything that just happened between us three while I take care of it."

Saeyoung struggled to look him in the eyes, contemplating the weight of this decision. He knew none of this was right, taking this and staying silent didn't seem morally correct. But the idea of being out of his father's grasp, for Saeran's sake, outweighed the days of psychological torture.

He shoved the documents back into the envelope and without a word, turned to leave. A few steps in and he couldn't shake a thought that weighed heavy on his mind, turning back around immediately.

"Did," he paused, collecting himself as he pushed his words out, "Did Rika do that to your eyes?"

V fell silent for a moment, eyes averting his gaze and almost confirming his answer. His expression went cold for a second before they met Saeyoung's attentive look. It was like watching him collapse in on himself, the V he saw mere seconds ago completely gone.

"She wouldn't, you don't have to worry about this" he tried to assure, but his body language contradicted.

"You should head home, you look like you haven't slept all night."

Before Saeyoung could respond, he had made his way back inside. A feeling in the pit of his stomach turned at the thought of what V could be walking right back into, contemplating whether he should knock again and find out. But he fought it, instead turning back around and leaving.