among thieves ✨ || bts • pjm
- bonus epilogue
"what even am I to you? your rival, your lover, an obstacle or am I supposed to be your coffin?"
about two thieves who can't live with nor without each other. and a joint past that comes back to threaten them.
© 2023 | eleni_cherie
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masterlist: here
— genre: thief au, gangster comedy, adventure, romcom, humour, angst, fluff, very flirty jimin, friends/rivals/exes to lovers (it's complicated, ok?!) f2l e2l ex2l all members play a role in this story!
ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE. CHARACTERS NOT NECESSARILY LIKE THE REAL PERSONS. ALSO VERY UNREALISTIC PLOT LOL - JUST PRETEND READING A MANGA/COMIC OR WATCHING A FILM, REALLY.
SUGGESTIVE THEMES. MENTIONS OF VIOLENCE & BLOOD (BUT NOTHING TOO GRAPHIC, IT'S STILL A COMEDY!)
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three months earlier Nice, France
"Bella-baby? C'mon, I know you're in there! Open the door!"
A defeated groan left Arabella's lips.
She should've seen it coming and in a way she did. She just expected it to take longer for him to find her in that purposely chosen small hotel.
Arabella was avoiding Jimin or at least had tried to, but of couse Jimin had managed to find her anyway. That was the disadvantage of having a masterthief as your lover, he knew how to search for something and find it.
It had only been a bit over a month since they'd last seen each other. Almost 7 weeks, 46 days to be exact. And she'd know, oh, she did know it exactly. She had calculated it over and over again after all.
And if her irritation over the overall sudden pivotal situation she'd found herself in wasn't enough, he had to add to it now by randomly showing up and knocking on the door of the hotel suit in Nice she'd been hiding in for the past three days.
Frankly, she wasn't only avoiding him but the whole world right now. Everything felt confusing and exhausting and somehow she thought by avoiding everything and everyone and just being by herself could help her clear her mind.
So far nothing had changed though.
Another knock was heard even followed by permanent and annoying ringing.
He was persistent she knew. But he was also understanding and kind, as annoyed as she felt in that moment, she knew sooner or later she had to talk with him about it anyway. After all, he had been involved in creating this situation - and he'd get to hear the telling off about it soon.
The phone on the floor buzzed, interrupting her train of thoughts and she picked it up annoyed.
chim (6:47pm):i know we said to lay low for some time after dubai
chim (6:47pm): but i meant for pops! i didn't mean from each other T-T
chim (6:50pm): or did i do smth??
chim (6:54pm): it's ok if you don't wanna see me for whatever reason, but at least give me a sign you're ok. I'm getting worried here
chim (6:58pm):i give you 5. otherwise I'll get a keycard and check myself!
She groaned again. Her eyes briefly fell onto the silver bracelet gracing her wrist before forcing herself to stay up, pushing her body off the warm mattress, the duvant she'd been rolled in like a wrap falling from her torso.
With delicate steps she walked to the door as some kind of calmness took over, reducing her unrestness. Truth was, she wanted to see Jimin. She'd missed him and quite frankly, in this situation he was the only one who she wanted to see and talk to. Not that she had anyone else, she didn't. Well, except maybe Cassandra and she'd need someone like her as well, whatever her decision to deal with it might end up being. And yet, when her hand wrapped around the door handle, she hesitated.
What would his reaction be?
Would he be as panicked and scatter minded as her?
Would he be uninterested?
Mad?
Upset?
Scared?
Or even.. happy?
She didn't know. She didn't even know how she felt herself. Probably all of the above.
What if they couldn't agree?
A lump formed in her throat at the possibility of them falling apart because of this. With a deep inhale she eventually opened the door in a swift move. Not knowing Jimin had been sitting against it, causing him to promptly land with his back on the floor in front of her legs. However, he didn't even acknowledge the unexpected fall or ache in his shoulders. His only reaction being a beaming smile spreading over his features when catching sight of the familiar pair of beautiful hazel eyes. Staring down on him, perplexed seeing him laying there on the ground.
Her hair was shorter than he remembered, the blond-colour fading into the edges. Matching his own honey-dyed one. Frankly, every hairstyle suited her really, she'd always look hot, but this one might be one of his favourite ones.
"Finally, love! I was worried sick."
She ignored the statement, lightly pushing his shoulder with her toes. "Get up already, Jiminie."
But Jimin didn't move, his irises sliding from her eyes down to her barely covered legs and his smile became a smirk filled with mischief. "Enjoying the view from down here though." "How did you even find me?" He huffed and gave her a lopided smirk. "That offends me. After all it's my job to find hidden treasures." She only rolled her eyes at his flirting, making him giggle. Wordlessly she walked back inside, returning under the bed sheets. Jimin quickly followed, closing the door behind him only to spot her in her newly created hiding spot. And he frowned.
"Are you sick?"
"You could say so," she laughed out from under the sheets.
The crease between his brows deepened and he dragged a chair to the side of the bed. Sitting down right in from of her face with an adorable pout.
"I came all the way from Marrakesh, I think I deserve to know what I did to upset you."
"You didn't do anything."
"I didn't?" he was surprised.
"Well you did, but it wasn't on purpose," she mumbled, her cryptic answers only confusing him more. He watched her rolling herself into the sheets like a child hiding from the world. "Will you tell me what exactly I did or didn't do?" he chuckled and set on the edge of the bed beside her, poking her nose with a grin. "You're confusing me quite a lot, love, but I wanna understand."
She had a weak spot for his dumb puppy eyes and he knew that, so with a dragged sigh she propped herself up on one arm. Her usually fierce eyes now lacking confidence when she stared at him with a straight face for a moment or two. Her cheeks turning crimson when she eventually muttered, "I'm pregnant."
She said it so casually that it took him a moment to process. His expression going blank.
"You're pregnant," he repeated, monotonously.
"I'm pregnant."
"You're pregnant."
"I'm pregnant." With a light grumble, she laid back down, resuming her previous spot.
A few seconds of silence followed until Jimin's lips parted again, realisation seemingly dawning on him as he stared at her blanket-burrito bewildered. "You're pregnant!" His unexpected excited voice made her flinch and curl more into the sheets, leaving her unprepared for his weight that almost crushed her when he fell over her. His arms around her, squeezing her into a tight hug.
"Ugh, let me breath!!" she whined. He was giggling when she was struggling turning around and wiggling free from the wrapped sheets. As soon as her arms were out, she tried pushing him off of her and he let her, his giggles having turned to a full on laughter, eyes disappearing fully. Amused by her habit of pretending getting annoyed over his display of affection when he knew she secretly liked it. And how could he not show it in a moment like this?
The thought simply didn't fit his mind. Arabella Valentine, one of the greatest thieves and spies of the world, internationally wanted by law enforcement agencies and criminals, wrapping men around her little finger and crushing them only by her charms, wit and dazzling beauty - pregnant. Unimaginable. Ironic even.
He pulled back just a little to give her the space to breath, but his arms remained around her back. His bright smile faltering to a straight one as his crescent eyes got bigger by shyness and hesitation.
"Wait, it's.. it's mine, right? I mean.. " He narrowed his eyes.
He knew that there had been a time where she'd lulled men into her trap to gain information or importent documents for a job, by making use of her female skills. It had been in the past but he'd never had the courage to ever clarify that. He only assumed she'd stopped after the first time they'd got together because frankly, that was what he wanted to believe. After all, the woman he loved was hard to catch, it was in her nature to be free as a bird. Hence why they'd never been officially together again after the first time which hadn't worked out. That was almost a decade ago.
There was simply this mutual understanding that despite not being tied to one another, they still belonged to each other. It was an unspoken agreement, something that came naturally when loving someone. They could flirt all they wanted with others to gain information, sneak into places - or out of pure habit of character like in Jimin's case - but at the end of the day, that was it. Nothing beyond this. And he trusted her. Yet, in this moment he felt the need to clarify for good that his feelings hadn't deceived him and both of them had shared the same sentiment.
Arabella only scoffed then, giving his chest a playful push. She wanted to be offended but couldn't. After all she knew where that unusual insecurity came from. With a pout on her lips, her hazel irises wandered up to meet his. "Of course it's yours."
His bright grin immediately returned to his lips as relief washed over him and he squeezed her closer to him. "I know, I'm sorry, love. I just had to make sure," he quietly said, kissing her temple. "Don't you trust me at all after all these years?" "Not with jewels, but I trust you with my life, love." And even Arabella couldn't help biting back a smile at that view. He was beaming, his face was beaming of joy. He was actually excited? It seemed weird, this whole scene seemed surreal. Still unable to comprehend how she'd found herself in such a strage situation.
"So.. you're not actually freaking out?" she slowly asked, just to ensure she didn't get ahead of herself. With his arm still slung around her shoulder, he was propped up on her side, now arching a brow at her from above. "No, why? Are you?" And to his surprise he watched her making a vague gesture. "Wait, is that why you disappeared for weeks? You were afraid of my reaction?" "No.. yes.. no.. it was everything."
With a groan, she averted herself from him and laid on herback. Staring up at the ceiling. Despite the closed curtains, enough light came through due to them being see-through. The afternoon sun projectinng their pink colour onto the white surfaces. "I just never saw myself as a mother, getting pregnant was not on my bucket list so it just.. caught me off guard really. I didn't expect it and got overwhelmed. And then of course, I also didn't know how you'd feel about it, adding to the whole distress."
Jimin was listening intently to her spilling her inner conflict, occasionally humming along understandingly and nodding here and there while observing the movement of her eyes and lips.
"It's not like I thought about it myself, you know," he said with a gentle smile, his free hand caressing the soft skin of her arm. It was cool despite the warm temperature. For a moment, he observed absendmindedly the movement of his fingers before continuing in a low voice, "It's true that in our profession.. that's not a top priority. Making plans for the furute.. We usually don't think that far ahead."
Arabella laughed under her breath and closed her eyes. "No, we surely don't."
Thieves lived for the moment. Of course, they had to plan out coups. But that was the only plans for the future they made. Heists. What and how they'd steal next. Anythinng else, especially when it came to their private life, was too risky and blurry to even dare considering making any plans.
Her eyes fluttered open and she glanced up at the soft edges of the face she loved the most. His friendly eyes were spacing out, partially covered by the longer becoming dark waves.
"So, what now?" she quiely spoke up, breaking his daze.
He blinked, a small chuckle forming on his plush lips. "Good question." The faced her, skimming her features in an attempt of reading her mind. Despite his excellent analysing of the human nature, his skills often failed when it came to Arabella "Do you wanna keep it?"
"Good question," she sighed, repeating his answer. "But I.. I think so? Is that weird? I mean.. I'm not sure, I'm afraid and worried but.." She paused, searching for his face out of habit. And suddenly a wave of serenity overcame her as she saw the love in his features.
Yeah, she had tried running away from any decision-making the past weeks because she felt scared and insecure. However, looking at the only man she'd ever trusted now and the sparkle in his eyes along with his calm smile, made something inside her switch. The thought of holding something that was half her and half him unexpectedly made her heart swell.
She shook her head. The hormones must've already been at full work for her to suddenly become so sentimental and sappy.
She shrugged nonchalantly then, looking away briefly only to raise a brow at him. "Do.. do you even wanna be a parent?"
Jimin took a moment to simply look at the woman he had called his lover, his nemesis, his partner in crime The love of his life and favourite menace.
"If it's with you, then yes."
Arabella wanted to roll her eyes at his corny remark but she realised quickly that it wasn't one of his usual flirt or charm tactics. She could see in his expression that he was serious, he meant it. And it made her swallow.
"Wow," she whispered, her gaze falling only to meet his again, "You really mean it, huh? You'd actually be interested in settling down and all that? I mean, we tried it once and it didn't work.."
He huffed out a laugh, his lips tugging into a smirk then as he leaned closer to her face. "Of course it didn't. We were too young and did it all wrong. Like the main couple in season two of a tv show, it was never meant to work out back then."
Her eyes grew round at his words. Truth was, it always unsettled her how uncomfortable and strained they both had been in their first try. It was one of the reasons which kept her from persuing another committed relationship with him, even if technically they were in one for years now. Just without the official labels and all that. And the reason she feared of ever making anything official again was rooted by that first initial failure. She'd feared a second one might be enough for them to fall apart and she'd dreaded that thought.
Maybe Jimin was right though. Perhaps it simply hadn't been the right timing eight years ago. They'd been naive and impulsive, forcing themselves to follow what they'd seen everyone else doing. What they'd thought they had to do. That wasn't their style.
"You think the first time was meant to fail?" Smiling, he run his fingers through her silky hair, combing it back. "Think about it, love. We tried acting normal, but Bella, we're anything but normal. It didn't make sense." He placed a kiss on her forehead.
"When did we ever make sense.." she muttered to herself before rising her voice again, "So you mean we should just stay true to ourselves?" He nodded, earning a sarcastic laugh from her. "Thieves and conartists. Great qualities for parents," she retorted. "Oh please, we'll be the coolest parents ever! We just have to be more cautious with our little.. tricks." Wiggling with his brows earned him a genuine giggle from her and he scoffed, pretending being offended. "No, I'm serious, Bella! We ain't that bad after all, we've changed, haven't we?"
Arabella paused, musing over his arguments. They'd indeed changed. She wasn't the ruthless and opportunistic loner nor was he the immature and reckless womaniser anymore. Both had outgrown those old habits, perhaps even thanks to the other.
And if there was a 'first' try, there had to be a 'second' one, as well. Especially after having gone through countless adventures and dangers, binding them together.
"What about pops and his minions though?" she countered, "I don't think growing up on the run would be too great for a child."
However, Jimin only shrugged, seemingly having a solution even for this concern.
"I heard Taiwan's very nice, especially for children."
"Taiwan?" Now it was her turn to repeat his words as confusion was written all over her lovely features. Surely, they'd been there for a couple of peaceful thefts over the years as interp- And then it dawned on her. Of course. One of the few places on earth that wasn't an interpol member. They'd be unbothered there by the agents who'd strangely grown on them over all these years running from them. And surely dealing with local police would be a piece of cake compared to Seokjin, Skylar and Jungkook.
Her lips curled into a grin.
"Taiwan huh? Heard it also houses one of the world's greatest art collections."
And Jimin couldn't help but smirk when imagining all the future heists ahead. And there'd be enough, he was certain of that. "Surely we - I meant, our child can benefit from that."
Suddenly a fuzzy feeling spread inside her chest. Their child. Hers and Jimin's. It was still surreal. And he could read her mind and laughed at her anew panicked expression. "Don't think too much about it now, we still have time to get used to it," he said and squeezed her shoulders, bringing her closer to him. Their lips met and both smiled into the kiss that felt like sealing the deal.
None of them had dared to ever imagine something like this, not even fleetingly, considering their risky lives. But if they had, it wouldn't have been with anyone else but the person in their arms right now.
Arabella didn't know what reaction she had expected or hoped for back then after the first five tests - just to be sure - or when finding him in front of her door earlier. However, for the first time in her chaotic and trauma-marked life she felt light. Lighter then she'd ever felt before.
THE END
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-thank you all for reading this story! it was fun writing something totally new for once, so hope you also had fun reading it!
💜check out the whole "thieves collection" series or my main bts masterlist for other members' stories in this universe or in general💜
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