Take Me to the Sky | BTS+

Tae and Cookies

Ava may have been worried about Shae, but she also couldn't deny how much fun she was having with this Kim Taehyung fellow.

His idea of bringing a tray was bringing a feast, and Ava was certain that the yellow fruity drink she was sipping on wasn't juice.

She was also certain that Tae's perfectly symmetrical features were getting dreamier by the sip. Tally-freakin'-ho.

"So you've never been out of your own country?" Tae asked, his game of 20 questions continuing to distract his new guest.

"No, never! Until now, I suppose."

"Wow, I can't imagine staying in the same place. We travel so much for our missions, it's just hard to fathom." Tae looked borderline concerned as he hugged his mug of milk in both hands close to his chest.

"So what is it that you all do exactly? You guys some kind of mafia or something?" Ava looked around the room.

"Mafia? I'm not sure what you mean." The way Tae's shoulders slumped in, even in his daring black leather jacket, he looked unsure and unassuming. Ava found it absolutely endearing. "Joon is our Fortress Leader. I'm kind of like his personal assistant."

"You must be the guy who hides the dead bodies then."

"Uhhhh...."

"Spreading scary rumors, are we, Tae?" Ava gave a start as Joon's confident voice echoed from across the room. Ava swirled in her seat and saw Joon's towering frame in the doorway, then noticed her best friend Shae standing at his shoulder.

"You're alright!" Ava exclaimed.

Shae ran her fingers nervously through her shoulder length hair and gave an uncertain smile. Her blue eyes began carefully taking in the classical-meets-modern aesthetic of the room she'd just entered, and her mind started making a dozen different crazy estimations at once based on what she was seeing. 

Did we time travel to this weird place? Or did we get hit by a truck or something... and this is the afterlife? No, that's impossible. But then again, so is the structural integrity of that coffee table. 

Shae walked across the room to stand next to Ava, to take in the room and their strange hosts from a safer distance.

Ava was quickly daggers and biting words again at the sight of Joon. "What did you do?"

Kim Namjoon's teardrop eyes and tone of voice hardened with authority up against Ava's brazen disrespect. "Our chief medical officer set her straight. Nothing to worry over."

"Hmph."

Tae stood up and was quickly offering a drink of something hot to Joon, who took the porcelain cup in his hands in a dignified manner. Then the fortress leader went to sit in the largest clawed-footed chair in the room, reminiscent of a small throne.

Once Joon had sat, Tae made a gesture with his hands to invite Shae and Ava to sit as well. Only then did Kim Taehyung take a seat on the sofa opposite to Shae and Ava.

"Obviously you're confused about why you're here," Joon began.

"Or where 'here' is," Shae mumbled.

"Right," Joon cleared his throat, eyeing Shae with a moment of softness over his steaming teacup before his eyes and voice bristled with authority again. "The short answer is that you're in a different dimension. One where things like magic and technology are far more...interconnected than where you're from."

"This city is called Era," Tae clarified. "And this fortress you're in is called Noon Mool."

"Let's pretend like you aren't crazy psycho cult leaders or something, and that we also haven't completely lost our minds," Ava interrupted. "I'm going to need you to elaborate on the words that have just come out of your mouth sir. A color-coded map, a tutorial video...heck, I'd even take a stick figure diagram at this point."

Tae stifled a grin. This Ava girl was something else, he mused.

Joon wasn't laughing. He continued, composed, "In Era, things work a little differently than where you're from. We don't have messy little democracies. Those towers you saw on the platform—each one is like it's own country. It's own leadership, it's own ecosystems, and every other tower is both a potential diplomatic ally or a potential threat to survival.  In our fortress, Noon Mool, we know how to play the win-or-die game better than anyone else out there."

"We always win," Tae interjected.

"Except, we've encountered a diplomatic emergency, and that's where we need your help."

"Emergency," Tae echoed with vigorous nodding.

Joon elaborated, "Court manners in Era, and political policy, dictate that we operate any and all diplomatic business with the partnership of an unaffiliated third party present. We refer to them as escorts. We've recently lost ours. That's what the two of you are here to become."

Tae clarified, "Basically, we need you to accompany people from our team to parties and meetings and debates and things. Your presence is like our white flag, that says we can participate in peaceful gatherings. It's an old Era tradition."

"Hold the phone for one flaming hot minute there, sir." Ava set down her glass, all of her good spirits shifting the longer this pompous Joon fellow and his gorgeous pet Tae ran their mouths. "If all of this is true..." she looked pointedly at Joon, "...why should we even help you? Who's to say you even DESERVE our help? Like, y'all could be crazy psycho killers or something, and we wouldn't even know it. No offense. But let's be real."

Tae swallowed nervously and looked at Joon in his throne-like chair.

Joon's voice became that same mixture of fierce authority and smooth invitation that Shae remembered when he was standing over her, next to Ava's car, as he answered, "You have been brought here as our honored guests. Isn't that enough reason?"

Tae tried to smooth over the foreboding in Joon's tone, saying quickly while he fidgeted with his hands, "What he means is, it is quite fortunate for the wellbeing of the many, many people of Noon Mool, that you have come to be with us, and we are incredibly grateful for your help."

"Such a pleasant way of saying 'kidnapped,'" Shae stated quietly, this feeling like a clenched fist closing in over her chest. She thought to herself how evident it was that Joon was trying to bully his way out of answering their questions. The red flags were waving high.

Joon glared at Shae, but held his tongue. 

Tae kept looking nervously about the room, from Joon to Ava to Shae, like he might burst from all of the tension hanging around them.

"So we're here to become...escorts?" Ava looked suspiciously at Joon. "Like what kinda escorts? Because honey, I can tell you right now, I'm not about to...."

Tae's face flushed crimson and he held his hands up, waving them back and forth. "No, no, not that kind of escort! Just, like, to be dance partners or sit next to us during dinners, or give us your opinions on people we interact with or policies, even."

Ava was kicking herself for thinking Tae's flushed red face was so adorable in their present predicament, but there it was.

Shae couldn't keep her scrutinizing eyes off of the suspicious leader of Noon Mool. Joon took a slow sip of his tea cup, his own dark eyes watching Shae right back. He had nothing more to say.

This conversation might be over, but the journey for answers wasn't just yet. Shae wondered to herself...if there was any possible escape from this mess. She also wondered just how crazy their new captors truly were.