Chapter 48 - (3.0K Words)

You watched in horror as Namjoon slowly fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder in his hands. You watched as his shirt slowly turned scarlet red from all of the blood he was losing. As his body hit the road, he looked up at you, his eyes filled with pure hatred. You felt your heart shatter as he took a large breath and his eyes fluttered closed. Hoseok looked from Namjoon's resting body to Jimin, all with the same hatred echoing in his eyes. As Hoseok raised his gun, Jimin forcefully pushed you behind himself and fired another shot in their direction.

What the hell is going on?!

You watched as the men from the other side of the bridge started running in your direction, each holding a gun of their own. You whipped your head over your shoulder and looked at Jimin, who was busy trying to protect you from the oncoming fire. He wasn't going to be able to protect you from them. You defensively brought the gun up to your chest and placed your trembling finger over the trigger. The closer they got to you, the less willpower you had over yourself.

What am I thinking?! I can't shoot these people. I'm not a murderer!

Just as you were about to put the gun down by your side, one of the men fired a shot just over your shoulder and past Jimin. You grabbed at the side of your neck, realizing how close that bullet had just been to your skin. You watched as the man ran past you before going to stand beside Jimin, and he decided to fire a few more shots.

Are they on our side?!

You felt a hand on your shoulder, and you jumped, instinctively bringing the gun back up in front of you. The man took his hand off of your shoulder and backed up a few paces. Even though your hands were shaking violently, you bravely held the gun up and aimed for his chest.

"Hey, don't shoot me, (Y/N)," the man said, holding both of his hands out in the air after holstering his gun. "I'm on your side."

"What the hell is going on?!" You asked, motioning to the scene unfolding around you. "Who are you?! How do you know my name?!"

"Relax, I can answer your questions, but not right now," he said, beckoning you forward. "We need to get you somewhere safe."

"Like hell," you spat, tightening your grip on the gun. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"(Y/N), I need you to trust me," he said, holding out his hand to you. "I promise that nothing bad will happen to you if you come with me."

"That's what they said," you spat, flashing him the scars on your wrist from the glass dish that Yoongi threw. "You're going to have to do better than that to convince me."

"Just listen to me," he begged. "You can come with me, and I can guarantee your safety, or you can stay here with them. It's whatever you want."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," you said, backing away from him so that you were back to back with Jimin. "Get away from me, or I'll shoot!" You threatened, your hands still shaking.

"I would, but I don't think we have any more time left," he said, forcefully grabbing a hold of your hand. "Please, find it in your heart to forgive me for this."

Before you realized what was going on, he pulled his gun out of its holster and pressed you up against his chest. He held your head steady against his chest as he fired a few shots between Jimin and the mystery man beside him. You could feel tears start to well in your eyes, and you lost all will to fight against him.

I don't even know this man! Why is he doing this for me?!

"JB, we need to go! Now!" An unfamiliar voice yelled. "We can't hold up like this forever!"

"I know, Junior, I know," the man said, lightly patting your head. "Just give me a second, alright? Take out the tires, then get the windshields and headlights if you can."

JB?! Junior?! Who are these people?!

"What the fuck do you think we've been trying to do?!" Jimin sarcastically yelled back. "Shoot the trees?! They're not exactly making this easy for us!"

"Save it, Jimin," the man holding you growled. "You can't get mad at me--you're the one who started all this!"

Jimin did what?!

"Please, close your eyes for me," he leaned down and whispered into your ear. "I don't want you seeing any of this, okay?"

You sharply nodded your head and squeezed your eyes shut, allowing yourself to trust him. You heard him slide his gun back into the holster, and he took the gun that was still resting in your palm, putting it back in its holster as well. You felt one arm slide underneath your legs, and another arm wrapped around your shoulders.

You felt the ground disappear beneath you as the man picked you up off of your feet and pressed you into his chest. The tears kept spilling uncontrollably from your eyes and onto his shirt, but you didn't dare open them. A part of you didn't want to know what he didn't want you to see.

It's obvious that he doesn't want me getting hurt. Maybe I can trust him.

"Sit tight for just a second, I'll be right back," the man said, gently setting you down on top of something soft. "Keep your head down and your eyes closed. If anything happens, stay quiet, okay?"

You nodded again, awkwardly trying to hide your tears. The man sighed, draped something over top of you, then ran out to rejoin the fight. You kept your eyes closed and your head down, just like he told you to. You could hear the sound of glass shattering through the chaotic blasts of gunfire. You wanted to do something, but you were too scared to move.

I could die.

All of a sudden, the noises stopped. You strained your ears to see if you could hear anything, but all you could hear was your unusually shaky breathing. Then, you heard somebody make their way towards where you were hiding. Your entire body tensed up, and your hand flew down to your holster. The footsteps got louder and louder, which meant they were getting closer and closer to you. A wave of panic washed over you when you couldn't find the handle of the gun.

I'm going to die.

"Alright, everybody in, let's go," you heard a familiar voice coming from somewhere nearby. "I don't want to waste any more time here. We've always been one step ahead, and I'm not about to give that up."

"What about the briefcases?" Another voice asked. "Do we just leave them?"

"Leave them alone," the first voice said. "It's not our money anymore."

"Jaebum, where's (Y/N)?" A third voice asked, clearly upset. "You told me she was in the van. Why isn't she in the van?"

"I'm right here," you weakly murmured, throwing the blanket off of you. You opened your eyes and you were blinded by a bright light. You brought your hand up to cover your eyes until they adjusted to the brightness.

You were sitting in a large pile of colorful blankets, in the back of an unfamiliar van. Two boys were in the front seat of the van, staring back at you with watchful eyes. Jimin was sitting in the back of the van, along with the man that had set you down in the pile of blankets. Now that they were in the light, you could clearly see their faces.

The man who was sitting in the back of the van with you had an odd reddish tint to his hair. He noticed that you were staring at him, and he gave you a polite nod and a cute smile, causing you to blush. You looked up at the man in the passenger seat, who was also giving you a kind smile. His dark hair popped out against the paleness of his skin. You turned your head and looked over at the driver, only for your breath to catch in your throat.

It can't be him. It can't be. He never got off the plane.

"Jackson?" You cautiously asked, your eyes widening in surprise. "Is that you?"

The driver paused for a second and scanned your face. A smile worked its way onto his lips, and you instantly felt more at ease. As he smiled, the scars that littered his cheeks became more and more apparent. Your heart sank in your chest as you remembered why he had those scars.

Those are because of me.

"I didn't think that you would remember me," he chuckled, running his hand through his hair. "I don't remember ever telling you my name. How did you find out?"

"I've learned a lot of things over the past few days," you said, not quite sure how to answer his question. "Jin wanted me to know a bit more about my situation."

"So Jin told you everything?" Jackson asked. "That doesn't surprise me. He's always been that way."

You casually nodded, not sure how to continue the conversation. You pushed your glasses up farther on your nose and ran your hand through your hair. Jackson was still gazing at you, his eyes soft. You didn't know what to do, except say something back.

"Your hair is different," you said, awkwardly changing the subject. "It was blonde when you were on the plane."

"Now we both have black hair, don't we?" He said. "I'm not sure when you died yours, or why, but I didn't come out of that airport with blonde hair. I wasn't about to let Namjoon and his--"

"Listen, it's great that you two are having a moment, but we need to go," the man with red hair said, grabbing the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Otherwise, they will find us, and we will be in big trouble."

Jackson shrugged his shoulders and looked up at you. You nodded your head in understanding and gave him a pleasant smile. He rolled his eyes and muttered something inappropriate under his breath, causing you to chuckle. He turned around in his seat and put the keys in the ignition, then turned the keys and started the car.

The man sitting in the back of the car with you didn't let go of the bridge of his nose until the van was steadily rolling down the road. You leaned against the wall of the inside of the van and let yourself relax. You closed your eyes and took in the events of the day. You didn't get very far into them because you felt something touch your thigh.

You opened your eyes and found that Jimin had moved closer to you. His hand was carefully resting on the outside of your thigh. You looked up and gave him a stern look, but he didn't budge.

"Jimin, you promised you wouldn't," you chided.

"I promised I wouldn't do anything while I was your escort," he corrected you, a smirk creeping onto his face. "I'm not your escort anymore, so--"

"Jimin, come back over here and leave her alone," the man in the back of the van with you said. "I'm allowed to stop you if you don't."

Jimin groaned and took his hand away from your leg. He scooted over to the other side of the van, all while giving the other man a dirty look. Eventually, Jimin came to rest a safe distance away from you. The man nodded at him and then turned back to you.

"I'm sorry about him," he said, running a hand through his hair. "He's not always the best around women."

"It's alright. I didn't expect Jimin's gentlemanly side to last forever," you chuckled, trying to put yourself at ease. "Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me," he said, shaking his head at you. "It's what Miss Lee has assigned me to do."

So they all must work for Miss Lee, whoever she is.

"Now that we have a moment, you two might as well introduce yourselves," Jimin said, subtly trying to change the subject away from him.

"Oh, right," the man's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "I almost forgot."

"I'm Jaebum, Im Jaebum," he said, turning to you and placing his hand on his chest. "Mostly everyone calls me JB. I'm Miss Lee's first in command, and I was sent here to protect you."

He quickly nodded his head, pleased with himself. You looked up at the man in the front seat and waited for him to introduce himself. He gave you a quick, cute smile before beginning.

"My name is Park Jinyoung, but everyone calls me Junior or JR," he said, slightly bowing his head to you. "I've been sent here to help assist JB. I'm also here to help protect you."

You nodded your head, not sure how to reply to them. You didn't bother introducing yourself. It seemed like they already knew who you were, given that they had called you by name at least twice. Although, you weren't sure how they knew.

Jaebum nodded his head and rubbed his neck, clearly able to sense the awkward tension in the van. He looked away from you and focused on his feet that were laying just in front of him. Junior turned around in his seat and faced forward, leaving you to sit awkwardly by yourself.

You looked over at Jimin, who was carefully inching closer and closer to you. You rolled your eyes and defensively crossed your arms over your chest, earning a cheeky smile from him. Jaebum noticed your sudden movement and perked up, taking his hand away from the back of his neck. He turned his head to look at Jimin and gave him a dirty glare once he realized that he was closer to you than before.

"She asked you to leave her alone, and you're going to respect that," Jaebum growled, causing Jimin to shrink back against the far wall of the van. "You know that I don't like giving multiple warnings, Jimin."

Jaebum turned his head and looked at you, his eyes instantly softening. You gratefully nodded your thanks to him before uncrossing your arms from over your chest. He crawled across the floor of the van and came to a stop just beside you.

"Do you mind if I sit beside you?" He asked, looking at you with sincere eyes. "I don't know that I can trust him to stay over there."

"N-No, go ahead," you stuttered, clearing room beside you. "I understand. I don't trust him either."

Jaebum chuckled quietly, then sat down beside you, making sure to keep a respectful distance away. He folded his hands neatly in his lap and turned to keep his eyes on Jimin. You watched as his eyes turned dark and angry just at the sight of him.

"If you had any questions, they're going to have to wait," Jaebum muttered under his breath, keeping his eyes trained on Jimin. "Miss Lee wanted to be the one to fill you in on everything. I probably won't have the answers to most of your questions."

"Alright," you said, slightly disappointed that he wasn't going to give you any answers, even though you hadn't asked anything yet. "Can you at least tell me where we're going?"

"We're going to the one place in this country where you'll be safe," he said, reaching around and lightly patting your head. "You shouldn't worry too much about it."

"Then what do you suggest I do?" You asked, gently pushing his hand off of your head.

"It doesn't matter, as long as you stay close to me," he said, pulling his arm back into his side. "If you happen to get tired, you can use me as a pillow."

That's not a bad deal.

"You wouldn't mind if I did, would you?" You asked, taking off your glasses and folding them up. You looked around for a spot on the floor to set them down, but you gave up and just ended up holding onto them.

"Not at all," he said, taking your glasses from you and placing them in the breast pocket of his coat. "I'm here to serve and protect you. You don't need to be shy with me."

You nodded, a light blush coming over your cheeks. You carefully leaned over and let your head rest on his shoulder. Despite the awkward angle that you were holding your head at, resting your head on his shoulder was comfortable for you. Only now did you realize just how tired you were.

"If you fall asleep, I'll wake you up once we get there," Jaebum said, adjusting himself so that you didn't have to hold yourself so awkwardly. "Just take some time for yourself and relax. You deserve it after the week you've just had."

He's right. I just need some time to myself.

You closed your eyes and nuzzled into his shoulder. You could feel yourself slowly start to drift towards sleep. But, the relaxed feeling didn't last for very long.

"That's not fair, JB," Jimin chided, crossing his arms over his chest. "You can't force me to stay over here while the two of you relax and have a cuddle fest."

Jaebum groaned and hit his head against the wall of the van, clearly annoyed by the boy. You blinked your eyes and looked over at him, hoping to sway him with your charms.

"Jimin, please, I'm tired," you pleaded, batting your eyelashes at him. "I just want to rest."

"Promise that you'll dream of me, and me only?" He asked, giving you an innocent smile.

"Shut up, Jimin."