reef knot

nine

  Who is he?

  "Yoongi!" the man exclaims the second he sees the unconscious boy behind me, before starting to run towards my fallen bodyguard. Thinking quickly, I hurl the rock at him as a signal for him to stay away, spreading my arms to defend Yoongi from the stranger. 

  The pebble hits the brown-haired boy square in the forehead (to my surprise). He stumbles backwards in shock, before landing on the ground with a hard thud. 

  "OW!" he complains loudly, lifting his head to glare at me. I swallow, hastily searching for another object to throw at him. 

  However, my reaction isn't quick enough, and before I know it, the man is already back up on his feet. Sauntering forward, he grabs my hand before I can stab him with my newfound tree branch. 

  "Wh-what do you want?" I stutter, my hand quivering in his firm grip. 

  "Are you Park Jiyoung?" he asks me, and I nod in reply. "Look, I'm not an enemy," he starts to explain. "I came here with Yoongi to save you. It's your problem if you don't trust me. But if Yoongi loses any more blood, he might die. I need to help him."

  I frown at his words. Somehow, I find myself trusting him. 

  And it's not just because he looks like a god. 

  I tilt my head slightly to glance at Yoongi. He's barely breathing at this point, his face a pale grey, almost completely white. The boy is right. He needs to be treated. 

  Gritting my teeth, I turn back to the brown-haired stranger, my gaze flitting towards the pistol in his right pant pocket. "Drop the gun," I demand. Better safe than sorry, right?

  Surprisingly, he obliges, his hand flying to withdraw the weapon, before gently placing it on the ground. 

  Together, we help Yoongi up onto his feet, slinging one of his arms onto my shoulders, and the other around the stranger's. 

  The brown-haired boy leads me out of the place, and in no time at all, we're back on the main road, abandoning the forest behind us. Parked in front of the pavement is a grey van, which I assume belongs to the stranger. 

  Retrieving a set of keys from his back pocket, the boy unlocks the vehicle, before proceeding to pull the back doors open. Gently, we set Yoongi down onto the backseat, before getting into the front cab, with him behind the wheel and me in the passenger's seat. 

  The engine revs to life with a shockingly soft purr, and in no time at all, we're already out of the area, surrounded by the familiar setting of the city. 

  At the sight of my rigid body, the stranger lets out a short laugh. "Relax," he grins, reaching across to ruffle my hair. Instinctively, I smack his hand away, causing his smile to widen. "I'm not going to hurt you," he informs me. 

  I roll my eyes in reply. 

  "I'm Taehyung," he decides that now is the right time to introduce himself. "Kim Taehyung."

  I grunt softly in acknowledgement. 

  "Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" 

  I turn towards him with a raised eyebrow. "Don't you already know my name?" I snap. 

  He laughs. He actually laughs. "Feisty, aren't you?" 

  A ball of annoyance forms in the pit of my gut, and I purse my lips in distaste. How can he be so lighthearted when his friend is dying behind him? 

  "He'll be fine," Taehyung consoles me, as if reading my mind.

  I don't answer, my eyes on the windshield as the boy navigates the vehicle through the bustling streets. "You're going the wrong way," I tell him. "The hospital is to the left of the intersection." 

  "We're not going to the hospital." 

  I frown. "What?"

  "We're headed to my place."

***

  Taehyung's apartment is located in the south side of Seoul, just a few blocks from where I live. With Yoongi on his back, we ride the elevator up to the twelfth floor.

  With a ding, the lift stops and the doors open, revealing a nicely decorated lobby with red carpet covering the floor. We stroll down the corridor, before Taehyung finally stops in front of an apartment labelled '12E'.

  "Could you help me get my keys?" Taehyung asks, nodding towards his right pocket. With both his hands busy carrying Yoongi, I can only oblige, my hand diving into the tight denim material.

  After retrieving the piece of shiny metal, I unlock the door, moving aside for the brown-haired boy to enter his apartment first, before locking it behind me.

  Taehyung brings Yoongi into his room, and I am about to follow, but Taehyung closes the bedroom door and locks it behind him before I can enter.

  "Hey!" I protest, banging on the wood.

  "Trust me, you don't want to see this!" Taehyung exclaims from inside the room, and I roll my eyes in reply, although I know he can't see me.

  "Yah, I-"

  "You know what?" the door to the room suddenly flies open, once again revealing the brown haired boy on the other side. I attempt to enter, but he grabs my shoulders and pushes me back to where I was standing before.

  I start to object, but he interrupts me before I can say a word. "Go home," he orders me, shoving a twenty-thousand won bill and a piece of folded paper into my hands. "If anything, call the number on the paper," he instructs.

  "What about Yoongi?" I ask, my gaze concerned.

  "I'll send him to your mansion in the morning, when he's supposed to report in as your bodyguard," Taehyung firmly ends the conversation.

  Without another word, he slams the room door shut in my face.

+

I CAN'T BELIEVE I SPENT 2168 WORDS DESCRIBING HOW THEY ESCAPE THE FOREST, OMG I'M SO SORRY Y'ALL MUST BE BORED TO DEATH. 

THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE BETTER I PROMISE. 

but that's what i always say :(

=hoseokieomo=

p.s. happy new year everyone!! :) i hope 2017 will be a better year for all of us xx 

p.p.s. xu minghao will be the death of me i swear to god.