𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑 || 𝐉.𝐉𝐊 ✓

⊘ • ❷❻ • ⊘

And although this isn't my responsibility, it shouldn't all be put on Taehyung either. However, here we all are. He led us to his mother's doorstep to keep us safe. He's putting not only himself at risk, but his mother, too.

I exit the bathroom when I hear a commotion come from the living room. When I walk into the room, I see Taehyung on top of one of the guys while holding down the other man's wrists.

"Are you done?" Taehyung spits. I notice the messy room, the shattered glass plate on the floor, and Taehyung's arm that's dripping with blood that runs off his elbow. "I don't have time to take care of a kid having a temper tantrum," he continues, releasing the other guy's wrists while standing to his own two feet.

"I'm going to make myself clear right this very second. You don't have to stay. You can, by all means, leave and try your luck by yourself. Don't expect me to save you when you get into trouble, don't expect me to help you find a place to lay low, and most of all don't ever expect anything from me again. I'm putting so much at risk by having you here, so if you don't like the way I'm running things, you can get out. I'll see you on the news channel in a couple of hours standing next to Ghost."

Taehyung's reality check has everyone on edge and thinking seriously about our situation, but they should be. I was like them yesterday, wanting to leave the city as Barbie suggested, but now I realize how stupid that sounds.

There's no point in leaving, especially if you're going to live with other relatives that could be dragged down, too. And if someone doesn't plan on running to family for shelter, then where? None of us can start over without money and a plan.

Taehyung is trying to make this work as best as he can, and although I know he's trying so hard to act like he knows what he's doing, I can see it well enough to know he doesn't, but he's trying and that's more than anyone else in this room is doing.

I walk forward into the kitchen with all eyes on me, but I need that attention for this. I grab one of the clean plates I set out, lay some delicious-smelling food on it, and I take my spot at the table.

"If anyone is planning to join Taehyung, like me, I suggest you get something warm in your stomachs soon. We don't have all day to lollygag. We're not slackers, and now definitely isn't the time to start becoming one. Everyone saw what happened on the news yesterday, and if we're not prepared, we're going to end up right with them, and then what? We can't save anyone behind bars."

"If any of you still care about your fellow crew members, as well as your lives, you need to shut up, listen to what Taehyung's saying, and fall in line because I'm not spending the rest of my life in prison and neither are the rest of the crew. So eat up and let's move out; we need to start looking at how to contact the others."

I probably sound completely different to everyone than my usual tone, but it's what needs to be heard.

I'm not great at motivational speeches at all, but for the sake of everyone, I tried my best. Most people follow others when they can't make their own decisions, so in the meantime, if they can follow mine while figuring out what they want to do, then that's fine. I only hope that they wake up and realize this isn't something that can easily be fixed with mommy or daddy bailing them out of jail and then a court case where they're seen as innocent.

That won't ever happen. If they go to court, everyone will be in prison for years, possibly life imprisonment if they want it bad enough.