IKIGAI l KIM TAEHYUNG

Chapter 24: Taehyung

I couldn't help but admire as Jungkook led me to their base. It was surrounded by the greenery one would see in their dreams. A perfect place for these kind of activities is indeed in the middle of the forest.

A heavy security guarded it from all the sides. Atleast now I didn't have to worry about my men. We were all supposed to arrive here in really small groups, so as to attract as less attention as possible.

After a few checks, I was allowed to enter the building. Their leader greeted me on the reception.

"I'm Natasha Romanoff. Nice to meet you finally, Taehyung." She said as she shook my hands. I could feel the strong aura she gave.
"I'd say I feel the same but you sent Hera to spy on me." I didn't try to offend her, it was simply a joke.
"It was her idea, not mine." She chuckled.

Damn.

"You will be shown to your rooms by him." She gestured to a guy standing beside her, before she leaned in and whispered, "As a gift, I have assigned your room next to hers." She smirked and walked off.

She managed to get on my good side the very first day. Smart.

We all moved in without any hassles. It was nice to be next to Hera but what I wasn't told was that Jungkook's room will be just in front of mine.

I don't hate that guy, but I hate how protective he is of Hera. Like man, have some trust. I'm not here to butcher her into pieces.

As I arranged my clothes into the cupboard, I saw her hurrying somewhere through the crack of the door. I followed her outside the base, careful not to make any sound.

I know I sound like a stalker right now but I couldn't leave her alone. She continued walking aimlessly for about half a kilometre before a lake came into view.

It was certainly beautiful. The bank was covered with vines and birds chirped through the trees.

She pulled up the hem of her jeans till the knees and sat down at the edge of the lake, dipping her legs in water.

"I told you to not be alone for too long." I announced my presence to her. She looked up at me before smiling cheekily.
"Sorry. I forgot. I won't do that again. It's just... coming here is a habit of mine." She told me.

I took a seat beside her, dipping my legs into the water too.
"Ah, this is nice." I said. The water was so cool against my skin.

"It's a gorgeous day, isn't it?" She gazed at the ripples of water on the surface.
I stole a glance at her before answering, "Yes, it is. But it's better when you are here."

"Were you always this charming or am I noticing it just now?" She raised an eye brow playfully.
"Only when I'm in the presence of someone like you." I chuckled.
"Flattery certainly gets you to places." She acknowledged.

A gentle breeze blew through, fluttering her hair.
"I've always loved the feeling of wind against my skin. It's so... energizing." She sighed.
I grinned at her.

"Is it now?" I turned to face her, my voice extremely low, "Well, I have a feeling I could find more ways to energize you, given the chance." I smirked.

She leaned in, her voice teasing as well.
"Is that so? Maybe you'll have to show me just how skilled you are at energizing." She grinned as she pushed a strand of my hair away from my face.

"Trust me, I'm a master of the art." I chuckled and caressed the back of her hand with my thumb.

The view in front of me, along with her presence, was everything I could ask for. I felt at peace.

Poets write about landscapes like these. But right now, the only poem, I think, is her voice speaking.

Kiss me by the lake, and I promise the stars will envy our passion.
I had heard that somewhere.

I could feel the rest of the world fade into insignificance as I spent this moment with her. I had surrendered myself to her fully.

But she hadn't.

I was more than happy to wait for her, though. What's a couple more weeks?

I looked over at her. She had closed her eyes, enjoying the rays of the sun falling on her.

And here I thought that the lake was the main event for today. Nope, it was always her.

We talked for a bit more as our laughter and whispers mingled with the gentle lapping of the water.

All of a sudden, we saw huge flocks of birds fly away from a distance.

The base.

We quickly got up, without caring to fix our clothes. Running as fast we could, we found the place in chaos.

The security guards were all dead. No sign of any injuries.

"They suffocated to death." She whispered as realization hit us both.

We ran to check inside and found even more people dead. The rest were running aimlessly in panic.

"Shit, shit." She began to run towards our rooms. The realization dawned upon me that she was running to check on her friend.

Unfortunately, we didn't find him there.

She was in a full-fledged panic now. I grabbed her shoulders before looking her intensely in the eyes.
"He is okay. We are okay." I whispered, allowing the words to get through her.

In an instant, a strong wind began to blow again. So strong that it could levitate us.

"Come with me." She screamed as we ran towards the exit, hand-in-hand.

Even after getting out, we continued to run for atleast two kilometers. Anytime I'd try to ask where she was taking me, she would shush me saying that I need to be quiet.

Finally she slowed down at an empty ground. She tapped her legs around the ground and found the echo of a metal ringing back at her.

She crouched down and pushed the leaves aside, revealing a small metal door.

A secret hideout.

"Come on." She gestured me to follow her as she opened the door with a grunt. We ascended down the stairs to a small empty space. All the walls were covered with vines.

"For the time being, we will stay here. It's too dangerous outside." She sighed as she started to walk towards a wall, before continuing, "Somehow, the location of the base was compromised. So here we are. Nobody knows about this place other than me and Jungkook. I mean-"

"But there's nothing here." I cut her off. Unless she was talking about staying here for some hours, we couldn't survive here.
"Patience, sweetheart." She smirked as she dug through the dense network of vines on the wall.

I felt a familiar feeling inside me when she called me that.
"Here we are." She exhaled, as she removed the last vine to expose another door, made of thick metal.

"A secret hideout inside a secret hideout. Smart." I complimented her.
"So as I was saying before you interrupted me, Jungkook doesn't know about this place fully. I had vaguely told him about here a month ago so he might not find us. Besides, he doesn't know the password." She said as she filled in the password in the lock.

I mentally groaned, because I was getting turned-on by her smartness.

"F1reAndW0ter. Remember that this is case-sensitive too." She told me.
I just hummed, exhausted.

The door opened to reveal a very small house-kind of place.

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here we are, in the last phase of the story. i meant for this story to be short anyways
remember to vote if you liked this chapter :)