WITHOUT You [YOONGI] (Book 2)

Chapter 30 [Taehyung's Story pt.1]

Silence flowed around the room apart from the eerie tapping on a laptop. In anticipation, everyone watched Lisa make notes on Taehyung's profile, from the amount of times he released any sort of emotion to the amount of days he spent learning how to withstand torture.

A little nudge next to him stopped him from losing consciousness and he lifted his heavy head to the side where a tiny girl trembled beside him.

"Oppa," Hwasa whispered frighteningly with tears brimming at the end of her eyes. "I'm next, aren't I? But I can already feel water in my eyes."

Taehyung's heart broke at hearing his friend's words. He already knew what would happen to her if she didn't gather herself quickly enough.

"Don't be scared, Hwahwa," he soothed her heartbreakingly, wishing he could do more for her than only give her comforting words, "close your throat. Bite down hard on your tongue and squeeze your eyes really really tight. Think about bubble gum I gave you last night."

"B-but I don't think I can do th-"

"Yes you can. If I can, then so can you," He said to her encouragingly with a stronger voice, "no emotion, no feeling, no fear. Complete the mission. You belong to the KSI."

Age 8

Two years later, Taehyung became withdrawn, quiet and emotionless.

Normal people would've called it anti-social behaviour but to the adults controlling him in the KSI training, they called it improvement.

He finally mastered the ability to withstand torture. He was taught by his Lisa noona that that was a basic survival skill and he just prolonged his life a tiny bit longer by excelling at it.

"You will see a lot of fucked up shit later on in life, Taetae. And you will endure a lot of pain by bad evil people. But the most important thing is to never talk to them, never reveal any information about the KSI to them. You'd rather die than display any emotion or fear. We're your family. Family protect each other."

Those words stuck in his head. And as he swung his legs back and forth on top of an old chair, being forced to watch some random guy being beaten up by two KSI agents for the hundredth time, he found it fascinating that he didn't even wince away from the cries of pain or the nightmares of 'please don't kill me' anymore.

A hand squeezed his shoulder and he looked up to Lisa again who gave him a small smile. "He's one of the baddies, Taetae."

Taehyung looked back at the poor guy whose face resembled mince meat smashed together. His bleeding and damaged face had swollen so much that it swallowed both of his eyes.

"What did he do?" Taehyung asked Lisa in a monotone voice.

Lisa ruffled his hair, the ghost of a smile lingered on her lips. "He betrayed us."

"Oh." Was all that he could reply, watching the gruesome attack like he was watching a Disney film. "How so?"

"His name is Lim Jaebeom. He's our informant but he revealed a very very big secret to the new White Thorn Gang and two of our own agents were killed because of him."

Taehyung didn't respond to that. Instead, he silently observed and absorbed in the consequences of going against the KSI.

It was one of the traits that he picked up after being so long with the KSI since he was born. Watch, assess, analyse. It was far better than voicing unnecessary opinions, which he would've been told were wrong anyway by Lisa.

Lisa was always right to him. She was his mentor, she taught him how to survive, she gave him food, a blanket to cuddle at night and she told him he was different to normal kids.

That was enough to make him happy.

Lost in his thoughts, her face swam in front him and he snapped himself back to reality. Kneeling down to his level, she opened his palm tenderly and placed a heavy revolver in his tiny hands.

"Shall we start your training today, darling?" she smiled at him lovingly before it dropped to a chilling hard expression, "kill him. No one betrays the KSI."

Taehyung gulped, staring at the weapon in his innocent hands. The cold metallic pistol grip burned into his sweaty hands.

"Noona-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, a hard force threw him to the ground when her palm connected to the side of his face.

Her rings scratched the side of his jaw, but that wasn't her concern. Lisa shook her bony hand, standing over the minuscule Taehyung. She was angry; her Taehyung hesitated and that was not how she had taught him. "Are you forgetting something, Taetae? No emotion, no feelings, no fear. Complete the mission-"

"-I belong to the KSI." Taehyung finished in a little voice.

Using all of his strength, he raised the gun shakily and clicked the trigger just like how he had been taught so many times before.

A muffled whimper came from the battered man in front of him, making him freeze.

"P-please... please child, spare me." The begging was faint, but it was enough for eight year old Taehyung to never forget someone's final plea to him before their death.

"N-no one ever betrays the KSI." Taehyung said, ignoring the tug on his bursting heart. He closed his eyes tightly shut as a loud popping sound ended the man's whimpered cries.

An echoed silence circulated around the room. Opening his eyes finally, in front of him laid a dead corpse, the walls behind it splattered with brain and skull remains as gory red tainted the floor.

Next to Taehyung, Lisa tapped on her laptop again, filling in a new category to his profile.

'Kill count: 1'