Ch.3
This piece of paper has to be a sign. Fate is trying to tell you that you're linked to these guys somehow. For better or worse, you don't know. The things written on it were mysterious. What even was this address? You looked it up on your phone and it was really south of the neighborhood you lived at. It was almost an hour away which made it less tempting to go to. It's not like your sister would get home early and worry about you. Homework could wait. Even if your sister showed up, she'd be too tired to even look at your room door. She'll pass out on her bed and that's the end of that story. You're good to go so what are you afraid of?
The chance of getting involved in criminal activity.
That's actually a reasonable thing to be afraid of. You also wanted to figure what was going on with some students at your school. Particularly your friend, Jimin. It's normal to worry. If the two of you were actually friends that is. The two of you are friends in class, but outside of class shows a different side. It was the unfortunate truth at the moment. You had thought about showing up to the address for a long time. If you went later, you'd get there by night time and you might end up dead. What if they don't show up? What are they doing there? This little piece of paper didn't help at all to your puzzle. Instead it felt like a piece to a completely different problem.
No matter how long you thought about it, you were already at the location. Without thinking, you immediately went over to where the paper told you to go. If you had gone home first, you would not have come. You made the reckless decision of showing up to this ominous location. When you had arrived, you took note of how narrow the streets were. Tall brick buildings sat next to each other, looking like the perfect factory for thugs and illegal products to come out of. Older men eyed you as you hurried into the tiny alley way. You were walking for a while until it came to an opening. It led to a space where the backdoors of all the buildings were pointing at.
Then the faint sound of a car engine made your heart race. Are they here? Is it time to figure out what's going on? It's not like you can go back now. You ran into a narrow space and hid behind an old trash can. There was a fire escape above you, but you didn't have time to get a good view of the situation. One of the doors to the buildings was kicked open as the sun was setting. A group of five men came out to the center and your eyes widened to see one of them trying to hide a knife in their sleeve before the others arrived.
This was insane. Five younger men came from the right alley ways and joined them at the center. At that moment, you recognized three of them. Jungkook was standing next to the guy mainly speaking for his group. There was a look in Jungkook's eyes that you've never seen in anyone in your entire life. If he had to hurt someone, he would. It was terrifying to see him like that. Taehyung was standing behind everyone with Yoongi next to him. The two of them held two bags with questionable substances. In front of them was this male with faded red hair that was close to pink.
"Welcome back! It's so nice to see you guys," The leader of the opposite group spoke. He tried to be friendly, but it didn't feel right with you. He had long hair that didn't look well kept. None of his own members looked like trustworthy people. Who were your classmates associating themselves with?
"Money," Jungkook's leader instantly replied. He was taller than everyone else with faded purple hair.
"Oh wow, you don't hesitate in getting into business." The other chuckled. "Well, you know the deal. Give us what you got and we'll talk about the price."
"You've bought from us once before. You know you get what you paid for. Our prices are already settled." The purple haired sighed in annoyance.
"Yeah, but we've been running low on funds. Plus, we've been having some intense cravings lately. Help us out, huh?" Their leader scratched his arm nervously. All his members were getting impatient. You forgot to breathe at times which was kind of good. The last thing you needed was getting caught.
"I don't care about that. Are you paying for what you wanted or not?" Purple hair asked, losing interest in the group he was talking to. Jungkook was giving each member a threatening stare.
"Just give it already!" A crazy member rushed over to Taehyung, pushing everyone aside. He tore the bag away from Taehyung's hand and tried sniffing the batch right away. In that moment, all members looked at the purple haired male on what to do. It wasn't supposed to go down like this.
"Wait...the hell? Boss, this is f*cking sugar!" The member tossed the bag at the pink haired member in Taehyung's group.
"What?" The boss's eye twitched. He faced the other leader with a scowl. "Are you serious?"
"Stop f*cking around!" Another member, shouted. He was the one with the knife. Your heart was pounding with the scene unraveling in front of you. This was not your classmate's plan.
The member with the knife pulled it out in a flash. Before the gang you were rooting for could take notice, you let an involuntary gasp slip. You almost stood up in surprise but shrank back down. You bumped into the trash can next to you. Covering your mouth with your hands, you waited for the trash can to stop the noise it was creating. You're going to be caught. You're going to die tonight. Bitter tears were forming in your eyes as the two gangs looked in your direction. Instead of peeking over the trash can, you looked at the small space between the can and the wall. They were practically making eye contact with you. Fate wanted you dead it seems.
As you silently wept, the member with knife took the moment to strike. He went wild and was able to slash Jungkook's leader in the face. The slash lasted for a second but Jungkook responded automatically. He grabbed the wrist of the attacker and kicked him in the gut. The man hunched over as Jungkook twisted his arm to throw the knife far away. Jungkook was getting more violent and you had to close your eyes. You did hear a crack, but you were shoving your tear stained face into your knees.
"What are you doing here?" A quiet voice asked, making you jump. Looking up from your knees, you saw Jimin staring back at you with worry.
"J-Jimin...I'm scared," You admitted.
"(F/n), why?" Jimin persisted. Sounds of fists making contact with flesh, yelps of pain, and cracks of bones were loud behind you. It was hard to focus. You've never been exposed to this. Was this normal for them?
"Tae...Taehyung dropped a piece of paper with an address on it, so I came. I don't know why." You continued to whimper. Jimin bit his lip as he looked over the trash can. The fight didn't sound over yet. He looked back at you with a mature expression. He always came off as soft and sweet in physical education class. What's the truth?
"Follow me but be quiet." Jimin took your hand, guiding you farther back into the dark alleyway.
It was a dead end, but Jimin revealed how he appeared out of nowhere. He held his hands out for you to step on. He would lift you up to the fire escape ladder and then you could make it to the rooftop. Stepping onto his hands, you grabbed onto the cold metal bars. They shook a little bit but were silent. You needed to be quiet if you wanted to make it out alive. Jimin followed after with ease. His movements were quick and agile. As he climbed up the stairs, his steps were soft but sharp. He seemed to dance with the shadows to hide himself and you tried your best to follow.
Loud panting could be heard by the time the two of you reached the roof. You wanted to take a look to see who had won, but Jimin refused to let you near the edge. He didn't want you viewing anymore of his life. It was understandable. He helped you jump to the next rooftop and eventually make it down from the buildings. Right when the two of you made it to the bottom, you noticed a giant black truck waiting by the alleyway.
"Is thatâ?" You faced Jimin, but he grabbed your shoulders and urgently pushed you towards the truck. He opened the car door and shoved you in. "Jimin!"
"Seokjin-nim, take care of her," Jimin requested and someone in the driver's seat looked back at him. "Please."
"Okay." Seokjin nodded as the door was closed. What's going on now? "You go to SuChin?"
"Huh?" You looked at the driver. He was staring at you from the rearview mirror, eyeing you down. You looked down at your clothes and realized you had almost forgotten that you were still wearing your uniform. "Oh...yeah."
"It's not safe to wear uniforms on jobs," He said. "Not like you would know that though. How did a pretty girl like you end up here?"
"M-Me? Oh. It's kind of a long story. Not really." You shrugged as he nodded.
"It's alright. We'll be getting the full story later anyway." He sighed in his seat, gripping the wheel tightly. "You'll be fine, Baby."
Your breathing hadn't calmed down at all. Being in the car implied that you were in the safe zone, but still. Where they okay or what? You never expected quiet Jungkook to hurt someone like it was nothing. The whole situation was unbelievable. You were caught, but lucky. For now. Who knows what will happen once they all see you here. Like Seokjin said, they're probably gonna try to get everything out of you. It was hard to even think of a sarcastic remark in your head with everything going on. It was no time to joke around. You stared out the window, anxiety building up in your chest as you waited for the members to arrive. Then they did.
Purple hair showed up first with a fresh cut on his cheek, the blood smeared downward. Yoongi was adjusting the rings on his fists and Jungkook was cracking his knuckles. Taehyung and the pink haired guy were just walking alongside them. Jimin jogged in front to tell them all the truth and reveal your presence. Oh no. He opened the car door and you felt yourself die inside.
"Please don't be mad, Hyungs," Jimin told them all as he looked at you. They all raised their brows as they waited for what he meant. You slowly poked your head out to give them a nervous smile. Taehyung and pink haired were shocked to say the least. Yoongi's face turned dark to find out you were here while Jungkook stared in confusion. Then their leader. His face was the hardest to read out of all of them.
"We'll take this somewhere else. Everyone, in the car. Now." He sighed as he went over to the passenger's side. Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook squeezed in with you in the back meanwhile Yoongi hopped in the truck bed. You wanted to believe it was for the lack of space. Not because he clearly hates you. The car was starting, and all was silent. Where were they taking you?
"I'm sorry, (F/n)." Jimin frowned and quickly pulled out a piece of cloth. Jungkook held you down as you started to scream for your life, struggling in the back seat. The two in the front didn't say a word as Jimin placed it over your mouth and nose.
"Please make it easy for us, (F/n)." Taehyung looked at you with sad eyes as you became involuntarily calm. You became light headed as you breathed in the fumes from the cloth. All your movements to fight back became lazy and weak. You almost forgot the reason you were in the car in the first place. Finally, you sunk into darkness.
*~*
Hearing male voices, they only got louder as you came to. Few were calm while some were loud shouts. It was unsettling and hard to make out. Letting out a groan, you opened your eyes to then close them. The light was too bright that it became painful to your eyes. A stern male voice spoke, and you felt yourself get put into a sitting position by someone else. You opened your eyes again, letting them adjust like all your senses right now. Where were you? Lifting up your head, you met eyes with seven different boys all looking back at you. A faint memory came to mind to give you some context. They purposely knocked you out.
"You're awake." Jimin smiled in relief, but his leader ignored his caring comment.
"Tell us your name," He demanded.
"...Kwon (F/n)." You heard yourself speak. It sounded almost strange.
"We knew that." Yoongi scoffed. "She's wearing her d*mn SuChin uniform and the tie let's us know she's a first year. Jungkook and Taehyung have to know her. I know Jimin does."
"Stop being so hostile," Pink haired instantly retorted.
"Hoseok's right. You're not helping so calm down." Their leader sighed heavily. Yoongi shook his head in disbelief.
"This is f*cking unbelievable." He took steps away from the group. The leader ignored Yoongi's bad attitude and continued paying attention to you. It made you realize he wasn't trying to be scary when he asked that question.
"I'm Kim Namjoon," He began, "Jimin told us a bit about you. We all don't know why you were there though. Jimin told us as much as he could."
"Taehyung dropped a paper with an address, so I came." You looked at them with confusion. It felt like you were being interrogated.
"Yes, but why?" Namjoon inquired.
"...Well..." You looked at your lap, playing with your fingers nervously. Were you really going to admit your stupid reasons for showing up? "I really wanted to become friends with Jimin, but some mysteries came up. Taehyung didn't help, and I wanted answers and so I thought I would get them by showing up there. I was worried what my classmates were getting themselves into." You stopped fumbling with your fingers and looked up. Jimin was shocked by your words. Yoongi rolled his eyes, muttering many swears under his breath.
"Please never do that again." Jimin walked up to you.
He sat down on the couch you were sitting on. You've been here for ten minutes and that was the first time you took notice of where you were. The couch you were on was dark green and musty. The room was giant and lit by many tiny ceiling lamps. Flies flew around the lights, attracted to their glow. Some of the roof was gone too which explained why you were chillier than usual. Everything was concrete here. Maybe you were at a warehouse. The only question left in your mind was, how do you get home? If you go to bed then this might all be over.
"I promise..." You nodded. Jimin looked like he wanted to say more but didn't know how to word it. You were going to wait for him to speak but Jungkook interrupted.
"What did you see?" He questioned, hiding a nervous tone.
"I saw...the beginning up until the fight started," You stated with a bit of shame. You shouldn't have come.
"I'm sorry you had to witness that," Hoseok spoke. "It usually goes really well! We just weren't lucky tonight."
"But you guys had bags of sugar." You furrowed your brows. "Wouldn't they have found out you cheated them?"
"No." Taehyung opened his jacket to pull out a plastic bag. "The real stuff was in our jackets. We were just waiting for the money." He gave you his famous grin. You laughed before nodding with approval.
"That's smart." You crossed your arms. Namjoon looked at him with a slight glare. They probably weren't supposed to reveal this information to you.
"Thank you! It was my idea a few months ago!" Hoseok raised his arms in excitement.
"No, I suggested that from the beginning," Yoongi quickly responded. "I also said that we need a shovel in the back of the truck in case of incidents." He glanced at you.
"Well, we don't need to listen to you." Jungkook caught the glare Yoongi was sending you.
"No more fighting." Namjoon looked back at them.
"Did you know the shovel was a ground-breaking invention?" Seokjin asked before cracking up and clapping his hands loudly. It took you a second to realize what he was saying.
Everyone was silent from the joke except for the orange haired male next to you. Jimin was laughing which made Seokjin grateful. It was kind of cute how entertained Jimin was from that little joke. It was so subtle, but everyone had caught on. Yoongi was groaning at the corny joke and officially walked away from everyone. Does this happen a lot? You couldn't help but start laughing too. All the first years were amused, including you. It was hard not to be. Namjoon and Hoseok were shaking their heads, but with grins on their faces. They must all be so close with each other. The mood lifted just from that little joke and that almost made it funnier. Seokjin kept a proud face full of confidence, not caring if others didn't like his jokes.