Jimin's words hung heavy in the air, and Y/N could feel the weight of them pressing down on her chest. The calm she'd felt just moments before was slipping away, replaced by the cold realization that nothing was as it seemed. They were all tangled in a web far more complex than they had ever imagined.
"What are you talking about?" Y/N demanded, her voice shaking with the urgency of the situation. "Who's pulling the strings? And why didn't you tell us this sooner?"
Jimin glanced at Yoongi, who was still staring at him with a mixture of disbelief and anger. But Yoongi didn't speak. He was waiting for Jimin to explain himself, though there was something unsettling in the way he held his silence.
"The truth is," Jimin began slowly, his eyes dark with an unspoken secret, "the real power behind Yuri isn't just in the mafia world. It's something deeper, older. And they've been setting this up for years. What you've seen so far? It's just the beginning."
Y/N swallowed hard, her heart pounding in her throat. "You mean… this wasn't just about us? About Yoongi turning on us?"
"No," Jimin replied, his voice heavy with regret. "This is about control. About a group that's been manipulating every player in this game. Including you, Y/N. Including me."
"Stop playing games," Jungkook snapped, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. "You've been watching us from the sidelines for so long, and now you're telling us you were part of it?"
"I wasn't part of it," Jimin said sharply, his voice taking on a defensive edge. "But I didn't know who I was dealing with until it was too late."
Yoongi finally spoke, his tone low and dangerous. "Who are they, Jimin?"
Jimin hesitated for just a fraction of a second, but that brief pause was enough for Y/N to see the tension in his body. The fear that had once been a part of his smile was now gone, replaced by something darker. Something more terrifying.
"They call themselves The Black Lotus," Jimin said, his voice barely above a whisper. "A secret organization. They have eyes everywhere. And they're the ones pulling the strings in the background, controlling everything from the shadows."
"The Black Lotus…" Y/N murmured, the name unfamiliar but somehow chilling.
"They're more dangerous than any of us realize," Jimin continued. "They don't just want power. They want absolute control. And they've been using people like Yoongi, like Yuri, to build their empire. They've been planting seeds of distrust, manipulating events, all so they can take over."
Y/N's mind reeled with the implications. All this time, they had thought the war was just about power, about betrayal, but now they were realizing it was part of something far greater.
"I've been trying to gather information about them," Jimin went on, his expression now tense with urgency. "But they're too powerful. Too careful. And now, they've started making their move."
Yoongi's lips curled into a bitter smile, though there was no warmth in it. "So now you're telling us this? After everything's already fallen apart?"
Jimin met his gaze, unflinching. "I never had the full picture, Yoongi. I didn't know who I was dealing with until it was too late. But I do now. And we need to act. Or we're all dead."