The Bouquet

Chapter 8

A slight tug on your jacket had you coming to a stop. You turned to your right and were met with the sight of a man standing before you. You slid your earbud from your ear and slung it over your shoulder, raising your eyebrow in question. "Can I help you?" You asked.

"Sorry about that, I called for you a couple of times but you couldn't hear me!" The man said, a sweet smile gracing his plush lips. He had a cute smile you noticed, his eyes sliding closed and his blonde locks falling in front of his forehead.

"It's alright." You replied, a little stiffly and awkwardly.

"Oh! You must be a little confused, huh? You applied for a position at my shop, I'm the owner! I figured I'd meet you and escort you there. I thought it'd be nice to get to know one another before the interview. Your sister told me this is your first interview and I wanted to make you as comfortable as possible." He said. You couldn't help but be amazed by how incredibly sweet he was, and young too. You found it a little strange that someone so young already owned their own shop.

He stopped for a moment, shifting his glasses up the bridge of his nose a little higher and pulling the hair away from his forehead. It looked like an action he did a lot as he continued talking through it. "There's a shortcut this way, do you mind?" He asked, offering his arm up to you.

You gave him a small smile before linking your arm with his own as he turned to face another direction. You noticed it was an alley, a very familiar one as a matter of fact. You stopped for a moment, remember your mother's words of never entering a dark alley. The last time you did you witnessed something you weren't supposed to. But the difference here was you weren't alone, so it should be fine, right?

You didn't argue with your companion, you just allowed him to lead you through the slim alleyway. And that was probably the worst mistake you ever made. As soon as the two of you were far enough in you felt a harsh shove in between your shoulder blades and you were sent flailing to the ground. You could feel your knees scrape against the gravel as you groaned in pain, what the fuck had just happened? Before you could come to your senses and stand back up, you felt a weight settle on your back and the prick of a needle against the flesh of your neck. You had really fucked up good this time.

You groaned into the ground beneath you, rolling around in a daze as you felt your vision go blurry. The world was already becoming a mess of colors and confusion. You felt higher than a kite. In your disoriented state, you could feel two arms slide beneath your body and gently lift you up, cradling you to a person's chest. Your face lolled against their shirt, the scent was so familiar and welcoming.

And before you passed out, succumbing to the blurry colors and spots of black invading your vision, you could remember hearing one thing, "Thanks Jimin."

~~~~~~~

When you woke up, everything felt much worse. Upon opening your eyes you were immediately stuck with another needle, flushing God knows what into your veins. Whoever had taken you wanted you as weak as a kitten, ensuring that you wouldn't fight back. Whoever had handled you had done a poor job as well, through your kaleidoscope vision you could make out the beginnings of bruises on your legs and arms. You felt like complete and utter shit.

Each time you were moved felt like you were in and out of sleep, just barely able to remember what was going on. You could remember faintly the feeling of your clothes being pulled off before having them replaced with something else. Whatever it was it didn't cover you well and in fact, you felt incredibly cold. You couldn't see, that was apparent. It felt like something had been pulled over your head and was making it hard to breathe.

And the irony of it all was that you still weren't afraid, distressed, confused, and tired but not afraid.

You could feel your hands had been bound together and someone was gripping your forearms, dragging your barely lucid body through various hallways taking confusing twists and turns. Most likely done so you wouldn't be able to escape.

When you and whoever was with you finally stopped, it didn't get much better. You heard a set of doors swing open before you were forced in and whatever was covering your face had been ripped off. The lights in the room were practically blinding, forcing you to wince and bow your head. As soon as you dropped your head you felt someone twist their fingers in your hair and yank your head up, you could feel the burn in your scalp from the harsh movement and a small cry forced its way free from your mouth. You could see now, but your vision was still far from perfect and most definitely impaired from whatever drug had been forced on you.

You could tell there was a shit ton of people, all men from what you could see. You couldn't make out faces, the lights shining in your eyes made it too hard. And you could hear them all talking, yelling something you couldn't understand. You spun around shakily, realizing that you were fully surrounded by these masses of people. And finally, you had begun to realize what it was they were all saying. It was numbers, large numbers.

This was a bidding.

They were all bidding on you like you were cattle. You were in disbelief, how had it come to this? Why did you trust that man, someone you didn't even know? Tears pricked at the corner of your eyes before they began their slow descent down the curves of your cheeks, once again your freedom was going to be ripped from you in the most brutal way possible. You should have listened to Hoseok, he was right. You couldn't take care of yourself.

A buzzer sounded throughout the room sending a wave of sighs and frustration from those who couldn't bid high enough. It had happened so quickly, and before you knew it you were being sold.

You dropped your head once more in disbelief, your bound hands curling into your chest in devastation and resignation. Everyone had been right about you, you attracted trouble and you would never be able to be free. You were meant to be caged for the rest of your life because of this. And now, you were sure your next few days would be short and end abruptly. You had no faith that you would come out of this alive.

While lost in thought you hadn't realized how quiet it had become, the loud voices having vanished from the room.

You jerked at the feeling of a hand brushing your bare shoulder and you hastily stepped backward, almost falling off of the platform in your attempt at protecting yourself. You raised your head and caught sight of the man in front of you, he had smooth tan skin and a somewhat gentle smile that dented his cheeks into the most innocent dimples. He looked kind, but what did you know. All of your judgments so far had been false.

He didn't approach you again, but instead just spoke. "Come with me." He said, his voice seemingly kind was masking what you knew to be a command.

He turned and walked down a few steps and offered you a hand which you accepted. He cradled your tied hands in his much larger ones and helped you find your balance to walk down the steps. He guided you to a door towards the back of the room where two men stood outside of it, presumably guarding it.

Without a word he swung the door open and jerked his head in the direction of the room, signaling for you to walk in. And you did. The door slid shut behind you and the man didn't follow you in. The room appeared to be a private lounge of sorts, fully stocked with various expensive brands of alcohol and plush couches to sit on and, not to mention, a bar.

A flash of red caught your eyes again, this was far too familiar. A man who was seated at the bar swung his stool around and came to stand, his dark eyes meeting yours with a look of glee. Hoseok. He quickly stood and crossed the room, sliding his jacket off of his shoulders and slinging it around your scantily clad body.

To your surprise, you felt relieved.

Without saying a word he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you into his chest, burying his face in your hair and heavily breathing in your scent. He had missed you every day for those three months. But waiting and planning for today had been the best decision he had made because now he had you. He had tasted the forbidden fruit and finally dragged his sweet angel into the underworld with him. You could no longer escape him even if you tried, he owned you.

You gripped the fabric of his shirt and pressed your face into his chest, a part of you thinking he would disappear and leave you there. You could feel the light drag of his fingers down the curve of your spine as he pressed kisses to the crown of your head.

"Promise me you'll never leave me."