Shadow Dancing | K.TH

Save One, Condemn Another

"Jungkook?"

Considering I'd fled the house right after him, it's not hard to find the maknae sulking just a quarter mile away. The moment I see the familiar broad silhouette, I recognize almost instantly.

"Go away, Noona. I want to be alone."

"How can I leave you alone, Kook?" I just go with my instincts, planting myself right in front of him and reaching out to squeeze his cheeks outward. His hands wrap around my wrists so fast that for a split second, I think that he might break them.

But he only pulls my fingers away from his face, lips still downturned into a firm pout that made him look absolutely adorable.

"Stop babying me."

"But you're so cute!" I exclaim, trying to pinch his cheeks again. Every part of me screams for me to leave the boy be, but I firmly decide that leaving him alone would be the last thing I'd do. Even if he hit me, yelled at me—I still wouldn't let him be by himself.

"Stop, Noona." He slaps my hands away for the second time, but my heart leaps in a fluffy feeling when I sense the gentleness in the gesture. He was opening up to me— it was inevitable, considering this was Jungkook.

"Nope."

"Please, Noona." He turns away from me, intending to face the dull wall instead of my smiling face. But I wouldn't let him do that. No way.

Knowing that it was a foolproof way to make him smile, I throw my arms around his neck and tickle the soft skin there, ecstatic when I'm immediately rewarded with a high-pitched giggle.

"Stop, Noona!"

He laughs as he grabs both of my hands and flings them away from his sensitive spot. A bright grin carves itself on my face when I see his face light and devoid of the anger he'd tried to keep himself immersed in.

"Yay— you're happy."

Even though the laughter gradually fades away from his face, a grin is still firmly pasted on there as he sees me giggle excitedly.

"You're impossible."

"I've been called that." I wink, and he gives a short laugh.

Then it happens too quickly for me to process.

Jungkook's face freezes into a deep snarl as he wraps a hand around my waist, pulling me back into the shadows. His eyes fix onto something behind me as he growls darkly, his expression suddenly deadly.

Then I see them, cocking guns and smug smiles on their faces.

"It's rare to catch one of them without the others," One of them sniggers, clearly excited. "And much less to find them with the hunted daughter. Boss will be more than happy to see you back, Chou Tzuyu."

"You're not getting her." Jungkook scowls, his body a barrier between me
and the five men. They're all armed with high-tech weapons, while we have nothing to defend ourselves. Having rushed out of the house, none of us had thought to even bring a knife.

"I can engage them in combat for about seven seconds, Noona. While I'm doing that, you run. Got it—"

"No!" I hiss up to him, appalled at the idea of leaving Jungkook to fend for himself. "There is no way."

"Noona— please."

Then all of a sudden, I hear a click. The wind breaks as Jungkook grabs something out of the air, revealing a tranquilizer dart in his palm. My heart drops to the bottom of my chest when he throws it against the wall and grips my wrist with a terrifying urgency.

"You need to run."

Then his face pales, and I see the glimpse of a dart buried deep inside the side of his neck. My flickering goes out of control when he realizes it as well, his expression going from panic to determination.

"Your heart rate— it's linked to your fading, isn't it?" His voice is so slurred I can barely understand, but I nod, tears filling my eyes.

Then everything spins into darkness when Jungkook tears the dart from his neck and stabs it into my arm.

The chemicals consume my blood, and my blood turns to ice.

And in turn, the chemicals in my body fluctuates dangerously— leading to the skyrocketing of my heartbeat.

"No—" I scream, my voice unnatural to my ears. Desperation overwhelms my reflexes as I reach for Jungkook, who has crumpled to the ground. "No!"

"You idiot!" I yell as my throat grows silent, my body dissipating into nothing. He'd saved my life— to condemn his.

Nonexistent tears flow from my eyes as I hear the men cursing, furious that they had lost their golden catch. Instead, they sling Jungkook's motionless form and carry him away.

And I can't do anything.

I can only watch.

My body doesn't feel like mine as I lay there, completely faded and invisible. Unseen. Unnoticed. Pathetic. Helpless.

While they took him away to face things worse than death.

The chemical in my body would eventually fade, bringing me back to my original form. Jungkook had saved me. He'd traded his life for mine.

"We're paying the price. One by one, until we're nothing but remnants of what we once were."

V's words flash pain and agony in my mind as I cry tears that don't fall to the ground. I had to go and save him. I had to help him— he didn't deserve any of this. And to think of the things he would be forced to experience in the compound— in my damned father's hands—

Suffering.

And then darkness drags down on me like fire, blazing pain and tears down my body. It turns my blood to flames that I don't even care if they consume me inside out.