the purge | kth

i am your key to him

    It was all weird—to describe it simply. Maybe it's the large part in me that's completely stubborn to new strangers, but it all felt too fast for me to trust them one bit.

There's Changkyun, Shownu, Wonho, Kihyun, Minhyuk, and Jooheon—Hyungwon being the last, their code names too hard to remember.

One of them pulled his sleeves up, showcasing his bare wrist. It would be known that Legion members would have that specific tattoo on them just like Taehyung and Three, but even as I rubbed some of their wrists to make sure it wasn't makeup, I wasn't fully convinced.

It seemed like it wasn't just me who felt uneasy about this. Jungkook's knee bounced up and down from his constant jittering, odd as his nervousness rarely ever showcases through his demeanor. I stole a glance at Taehyung and Yoongi, their hard expressions unreadable, but they're not stupid, are they?

"Sorry to interrupt, but how do we know we can trust you?" I spoke out. There's fucking crazy shit out there and that doesn't exclude you. How do we know you're not lying to us, too? You don't give us a reason to trust you, so why shouldn't we kill you?"

"Stop fucking moving," Seokjin whispered as he cleaned the wound that had re-opened slightly due to the fight prior. The rubbing alcohol making me wince as I tilted my head away from him, my mouth hissing.

"Getting cocky, eh?" The one who called himself Changkyun said. "What makes you think we can't kill you?"

The man leaned closer, his head cocked as he smiled. "Pretty girl, aren't you?"

Noah scoffed in the background, "Fiesty too, could have your way with her if you wanted."

    Taehyung visibly stiffened, his hand resting against the gun that laid in his lap, his jaw tightening with each word that came from their mouths.

Seokjin had just finished wrapping up my arm with the supplies he had left—placing his leftover medical inventory back into his bag before he went to place himself next to Hoseok.

    "Try it Noah," Taehyung clenched, his deadly eyes warning Noah to not say another word. I watched him in my peripheral as he wrapped his fist wrapped around the glock.

    I shoved Taehyung lightly, telling him to quit it before I stood up, nearly towering over Changkyun and smirking. "Why would you kill me if I have valuable intel? You want your brother back? I am your key to him."

    "Don't keep acting up or else you won't find your brother," I said with a straight face, my voice laced without humor before I sat back down.

    I watched the anger in their eyes grow, as if they were debating if they really wanted to kill me or not. Their fists would clench occasionally, their head movements communicating with one another before the loud-mouth spoke again. I was surprised that the only one who really spoke was Changkyun, but they seemed to be fine with it.

    "How do we get him back?" he avoided eye contact, his eyes moving to the table as he spoke.

"We have one of their people, and they have one of yours," Namjoon said. "The only way we can do this in a proper manner is to arrange a trade with the Legion—but we would be putting everyone else in danger. We won't be able to have the ball in our court entirely because they would have their own terms we have to follow, too."

"And obviously, we can't infiltrate to get him back because we are not enough," Hoseok added. "Their security is too tight, especially now that Yoongi, Maya, and Taehyung are on the run."

    "There is no clear solution here," Namjoon said. "It's not even worth seeing them again, they only cause destruction and chaos—and truth be told, I don't even really want to help you, because what do we owe you? We don't have to help you."

    "He's right, we have too many people on the line that can be exposed just by helping you get one person back," Hoseok said.

    "Accept our loyalty then," a different one spoke this time—Shownu. "You don't owe us anything, but we will owe you a life-line if you help us. We don't plan to stick with you, nor do we plan to follow you like lost puppies, but if you need our help down the line, we'll be there."

    This one spoke better than Changkyun. Better at negotiating, too.

    "You don't have to expose the ones that are on the run—you can keep them away from the entire ordeal," he continued, nodding his head toward Taehyung and I. "There is no need to put them in danger."

    I watched Namjoon, his mind deep in thought as his fingers fidgeted on the steel cold table. Hoseok and him briefly whispered, their heads bobbing as they discussed the possibility of the situation before they nodded again in agreement. My head moved toward the others, watching as Changkyun sat quietly, seemingly disappointed that he couldn't rack up his own negotiation—Shownu having to step in instead.

    "What do you think?" Taehyung whispered into my ear, his obvious frustration visible.

    "This is dangerous," I whispered, my lips almost up against his ear as I attempt to speak quietly. "And unnecessary. They're going to get killed at this point if they decide to do something as dumb and risky as this is."

    More silence is brought upon the air as we wait for their decision.

    "We'll get you in," Namjoon cleared his throat. "But we will not be involved in your exchange. We do not intend to see them again, nor do we want to involve ourselves with The Legion again. This is dangerous not just for you, but for us and as selfish as it seems, we can't go around giving everyone a hand if our demise is right in front of us."

    "That's not enough-" Changkyun gets cut off.

    "We appreciate your help," Shownu said, his hand on Changkyun's chest, motioning him to stand down as he spoke.

    Still unsure, Jungkook's knee continued to fidget, bobbing up and down as he stared into the distance—quieter than normal. It was all suspicious to me, why—of all people ask for our help? It hadn't been like I was the only one who was suspicious of this, Taehyung and Jungkook were too. And I am almost sure Namjoon, Hoseok, and Yoongi were at least a bit worried about a risky mission like this.

    It wouldn't just kill me, but Taehyung, Yoongi, and the rest of us.