part 16

9:16am The light that shined through the darkness had suddenly grasped onto your soul, forcing you to take in a breath and slowly open your eyes. In a daze, you slowly looked around the unfamiliar room as your eyes stung from the sun's rays shining through the cracked curtains of the window. As you inhaled a breath you felt your lungs squeeze in pain and your body clenching in pure agony. Groaning, you sighed and slightly moved your arm, bumping into something hard. You looked over and saw someone's head laying at the edge of the bed with their arms as a headrest. You realized that you had bumped their head with your arm which stirred them awake, the person finally lifting up their head so that you could see their face clearly. It was a girl; her hair was long and tinted brown but almost seemed gold in the sunlight, her eyes were big and round, and her face was tiny. She looked like an actual doll, and her features seemed familiar but you had never met her before. At least, you hadn't remembered meeting her. She looked down to you and smiled. "You're awake!" She said happily which caused her to stand up quickly and run out of the room you were in. "Tae, she's awake!" You had heard her call but you were too focused on the pain to care who she was at the moment. You knew very well that it wasn't the right time for jealousy. You saw Taehyung's silhouette appear in the doorway and his body quickly running over to the bed, along with the rest of the boys slowly entering in one by one. "Y/n!" Taehyung smiled and crouched down on his knees to be at level with you on the bed. He cradled your face in his hands softly, your face almost being engulfed by his large hands. "Oh my god, you're awake!" Taehyung grinned as tears brimmed in his eyes. He pressed his forehead against yours for a moment as he closed his eyes, the tears finally streaming down his cheeks. When he pulled away, you whispered, "What happened?" Taehyung shook his head while continuing to smile at you. "It's a long story, but you're here now. With us." He assured you and caressed your cheek with his thumb, staring at you with the most loving eyes you've ever seen. Although you were tired and weak, you couldn't help but get the giddy feeling in your stomach when he'd stare at you like that— when he'd touch you like that, he had you wrapped around his finger and you certainly weren't complaining. You slightly smiled. "Help me sit up." You said which made Taehyung shake his head. "No, you—" "Please..." you mumbled which made Taehyung stare at you before wrapping his arms around your body to help you sit upright. You weakly wrapped your arms around his neck as he lifted your body up so that you were now sitting up, finally getting the opportunity to look at your own wound-ridden body. Your legs and arms were covered in wraps and bandages and it felt like deja vu all over again. You lifted your head to meet the eyes of the six boys who saved your life for what felt like the hundredth time. You didn't know how they did it, and you were very curious to know, but you simply bowed your head. "Thank you," you mumbled before sighing. The six boys had smiled at you before Namjoon spoke up. "We're happy to know that you're awake now. We were all really worried about you." You smiled slightly, thankful to all of them for everything they had done. You saw someone of them bandaged up as well but they weren't seriously wounded compared to your state. "What happened to the girl?" You asked, suddenly remembering how the other girl had tortured you and brutally beaten you. "She got away," Hoseok said. "We managed to kill most of their men but I'm sure they still have backup. We could've ran after her but after seeing the state you were in, we decided to leave." You sighed when remembering how much pain and suffering you and the boys had went through. Still after all of this you couldn't understand how they'd put their own life on the line for you. In your eyes, your life didn't have the importance as their legacy. "You guys are crazy," you managed to chuckle. "How did you guys even survive? Were they just that weak?" "Well, sort of." Hoseok laughed while shrugging his shoulders. "And we had a plan lined out along the way. If it weren't for that, they would've killed you on site." You shivered just at the thought that you wouldn't be on the mattress, talking with the seven boys who you never would've thought become your friends. "So," you smiled while gesturing with your hand to the guys. "How did you guys manage to take all of their men down?" Seokjin scoffed and rolled his eyes in a playful manner, sitting himself at the edge of the bed. "It was easy! I could've singlehandedly broke all of their necks." He bragged but Jungkook was quick to object by the way he smacked his older friend at the back of his head, making Seokjin flinch. "Says the one that screamed when he saw a bug on our way out of the building," Jungkook retorted which made you laugh. As painful as it was for your body to laugh, you were genuinely happy that things were sort of back to normal. Things felt right and pieces were suddenly falling into place.

7:24pm

After a full day of smiles and laughter, you were no longer surrounded by a large group of crackhead-like men. The boys refused to leave you and ever since morning they kept you company and talked with you about the most random things. Seokjin had made you food while Hoseok and Jimin treated your wounds again. Jungkook, Yoongi, and Namjoon played games with you and Taehyung was just... there. He didn't seem to talk much and when the boys tried to engage him into the conversation he would only give short replies. He never left your side unless he had to go use the bathroom, but then he'd be sitting next to you a few seconds later again. It seemed like something was on his mind and you would be lying if you said you weren't worried about him; he wasn't one to act like that, not around you at least. Currently, Hoseok was the only one in the room with you as the other guys were cleaning up their mess from dinner and finding wood to build a fire. Hoseok was talking with you about something but you weren't quite listening to what he was saying, Taehyung being the only thing on your mind. "Hey," Hoseok called out making you blink and stare at him. "Yes?" You asked. "Are you okay? You seem to be distracted," he said while leaning his hands back on the mattress. You shrugged your shoulders. "I don't know, I just—" "Is it Taehyung again?" He asked which made you fall silent, and he didn't need a single word from you to get his answer. "Come on, you know you can talk to me." You sighed before leaning your head against the headboard, looking up at the ceiling. "I'm just worried about him. He hasn't said much or talked at all today and it seems like something is bothering him. I just hope he's okay." You said while letting out another sigh. Hoseok nodded while looking to the side. "Well, I think it's actually you that's on his mind." You brought your head down to look at Hoseok, your brows furrowed and scrunched. "Then why is he acting like he's so tense and nervous?" Hoseok shrugged but continued to talk, "He was pretty traumatized after we found you. The thought of you almost dying made him super anxious and scared. Plus, the fight you two had before is still probably bothering him too." Your eyes widened at his words, the argument you two had before not once pop into your head. You had completely forgotten about it. You rubbed your face with your hands while groaning. "Oh god... I feel so bad." You mumbled. It finally hit you that you and Taehyung never had a decent conversation after your argument which made you feel even worse for leaving him like that; although it wasn't necessarily all your fault, you felt guilty for avoiding him. You felt Hoseok put his hand on your shoulder. "Hey, don't stress about it. Just talk it out with him, yeah?" He said softly which made you look up at him once again. He smiled softly at you which caused you to smile back at him, finding hope within him. "Um, am I interrupting something?" A voice called out. You and Hoseok looked over to see Taehyung standing in the door way, having a skeptical expression as his eyes lingered back and forth between you two. Hoseok shook his head and quickly stood up, making his way out of the room. "Nope, it's about time you got your ass in here though." Hoseok joked and slightly nudged Taehyung's shoulder as he walked past. "Don't go too crazy, okay?" He whispered which led to Taehyung's cheeks flushing red, making Hoseok laugh and quickly exit the room. "Hoseok, don't say that!" Taehyung yelled at his older friend who was quickly out of sight. You chuckled at their wholesome interaction and looked at Taehyung who made his way toward your bed, his cheeks still rosy pink. "Geez, who does he think he is?" Taehyung mumbled before sitting down next to you and sighing, looking away in embarrassment. You smiled before looking down to play with your fingers, the atmosphere suddenly turning quiet and awkward. You didn't know what to say or what to do in that moment. The air was only getting thicker and as every second passed it got harder to breathe. "Tae—" "y/n—" you and Taehyung both spoke at the same time which caused you two to look at each other and laugh. "You go first," Taehyung offered. You slowly caught your breath as you stared at him, finally taking in his features; his deep set brown eyes stared straight into yours as his lips slightly curved upward. You sighed. "Are you okay?" You finally asked. Taehyung tilted his head to the side, confused as to why you would ask such a thing. "Of course I am," he reluctantly lied. "Why wouldn't I be?" You shrugged your shoulders while staring back down at your fingers that laid on top of your lap. "I don't know, you just seem to have something on your mind. Ever since I woke up, you haven't really spoken to me..." you said while fiddling with your finger nails. You tried to distract yourself so that you wouldn't embarrass yourself in front of him. "I don't know, I'm sorry I mentioned it. Maybe I was just being selfish—" "No," he said. "You're right." You lifted your head up to meet his eyes once again. Taehyung sighed and scooted himself closer to you, reaching out to take hold your hand in his. He looked down to your hands that were wrapped in bandages and covered in bruises and scabs. He caressed his thumb over your wounds and felt his heart break at the memory of you lying in Hoseok's arms, barely hanging onto your life. "Can I tell you something?" He whispered, continuing to stare at your hands. You nodded your head and kept your eyes directly on him to watch his every move. "When I saw you tied up and weak, it really made me sad but it also made me mad. I wanted to kill the girl right when I saw what she did to you, but I couldn't." He softly said as he ran his thumb over your knuckles, the soothing feeling relaxing you. "We all had a plan and if I made one wrong move, you would've been gone forever. I couldn't risk anything, so I didn't kill her." You noticed him take a pause in his words which made you worry if he didn't want to continue speaking but you had realized that when he sniffed, he was really trying to speak. "Do I regret not killing her? I'm not sure. She would've been dead and that's one less problem to worry about but at the same time, I couldn't care less." He slowly looked up at you and stared into your eyes. "All I was focused on in that moment was you. My heart almost stopped when I saw you fall off the edge and I—" his voice cracked which caused him to look down again, no longer wanting to meet your eyes. "I thought I had lost you forever." He mumbled. You stared at the boy who had seemed lost and fragile but covered it all up just so that you wouldn't see his true self. He was slowly unraveling himself to you and you thought it was beautiful. Expressing his feelings and his thoughts was what you wanted him to do for himself and for you, knowing that bottling it all up inside would not do him any benefit. Taehyung took in a deep breath before continuing to speak, "Everything that happened made me realize how much I care about you and how much you really mean to me. While you were resting I thought long and hard about what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it, but I don't care anymore." He slowly shook his head and brought his head down to kiss your hand, laying his head down to rest on your lap. "You mean more than everything to me, y/n. I never knew that you would impact my life this much... but I'm happy. I just..." He slowly lifted his head up to look you in the eye, his hand reaching up to caress your cheek. He smiled when he saw your eyes watering just as much as his were and when he blinked, a tear slipped down his cheek. "I like you a lot— a lot more than I should honestly. You just have this effect on me that makes me want you more and more. We have this connection and I know that you feel it too." Taehyung leaned closer and the tip his nose brushed against yours, causing shivers to run down your spine. "And I'm sorry about our argument before. I never meant to— mmhp!" Before he could finish his sentence, you quickly pressed your lips against his as tears streamed down your bruised cheeks. You felt the warm giddy feeling swell up in you all over again when Taehyung moved his lips against yours and leaned closer to you to kiss you deeper. You slowly pulled away and reached up to cup his face in your hands, brushing away his tears with your thumb. "I'm sorry, too. I was being stubborn and acting immature and you had every right to be upset with my behavior. I was acting like a kid," you said while staring at him. He chuckled and leaned his forehead against yours. "Yeah, you were extremely childish but that's okay. Nothing will change how I feel about you," he confessed which caused you to grin so wide and your cheeks flushed pink. "You do feel the same, right?" He asked and you laughed, wrapping your arms around his neck. "Why don't you kiss me again to find out?" You teased and Taehyung smiled at your boldness. He didn't hesitate to press his lips onto yours where your mouths danced with one another as you two shared a passionate kiss. He wrapped his arms around you and slightly pushed you down to that you laid flat on the mattress with him hovering above you. He slowly lifted his head up as his lips slowly lingered above yours, causing you two to smile and open your eyes. "Stay with me tonight," you whispered to him. Taehyung smiled and pressed another kiss onto your lips. "I would've stayed with you either way, Princess."