STRAY // JJK x HYBRID (bunny)✔️ Re-Writing

·CHAPTER 13·

BO-YOUNG

"So, I assume you want your pen back?"

I nod stiffly.

"Then follow me, shortie." He turns to walk in the direction of the nightclub but stops when he notices that I'm not behind him. "C'mon, I won't wait forever. Do you want the pen or not? I left it in my apartment."

I begrudgingly follow him, imagining the articles that will be written about my murder once my body is found tomorrow morning. Maybe the stranger will decide he's peckish for some Hasenpfeffer, and there'll be nothing to find at all.

The man stops in his tracks, a few paces ahead of me. "You're so slow," he sighs before taking my hand and dragging me along as he briskly walks out of the alley and away from the club's patrons—away from Jungkook's apartment.

"Hey, that bitch is a fucking hybrid!" one of the drunk men calls out, but he's quickly out of hearing range as I jog to keep pace with the long-legged stranger.

"Ignore them; their opinions aren't worth listening to," the man says.

"You're surprisingly nice for a murderer," I mutter. He stops.

"Murderer?" he questions.

I gawk at him. "Well, a strange man followed me down a dark alley and is now dragging me to his apartment, where I expect I'll be cut up and made into a stew. Hell, you haven't even told me your name—it'd be harder for me to report you should I escape."

The man laughs. "The name's Taehyung, and I promise you'll return in one piece."

"I better. I should warn you, I've been trained to go for the jugular first," I warn, raising my rightly clenched, albeit pathetically small fists. What I said is not entirely true—I'd kick him in the crotch first, then go for the throat, but that'll be a fun surprise for him to find out should he decide to cross me.

"I promise," he repeats, raising his hands up again in surrender.

"Then it's nice to meet you, Taehyung," I smile politely. Taehyung waits for me to continue, but I can't think of a thing to say.

"Usually, when one person introduces themselves, the other does the same," he explains as if he were talking to a child. I glare.

"I know that," I say but still hold out on giving my name. How do I know I can trust him? He doesn't relent—he just stares at me expectantly with his eyebrow raised. I sigh. "Bo-young."

"Nice to meet you, Bo-young. Now, we better keep going," he says with a grin before taking my hand again and rushing off down the street.

He comes to a stop in front of a large grey apartment complex which is clearly more expensive than the one Jungkook lives in. The area itself seems more sleek and modern, despite only being a few blocks away from the older part of the city where Jungkook and I are staying.

Taehyung unlocks the glass front door and swings it open, leading me into a spacious lobby. There, he calls the lift, and we ascend to the eighth floor.

The interior of his apartment is exactly how I expected when I saw the façade—neat and modern, and oh so different from the eclectic style of Jungkook's apartment.

Taehyung walks in ahead of me, making a b-line to the living room. He quickly returns with the golden pen in his hand, but before he can hand it back to me, he stops. He's staring at me, but not at my face. His eyes are trained slightly below my chin, where the black collar hangs loosely from my neck.

"A collar? I thought you were a stray, shortie," he points out. "And there's no way you shoplifted that—it looks to be from the more expensive end."

"Ever wonder why I didn't return to the alley the moment I noticed the pen was gone?" I ask. "You see, I met someone who actually wanted to adopt me."

"Whoever they are, they're a keeper. That's some high-quality material you've got around your neck, and I'm willing to bet it wasn't cheap."

Taehyung steps forward, handing me the pen. He watches quizzically as I inspect it, turning it in my hand to look for any new scratches or damages.

"So, care to tell me why that pen is so important to you? I mean, sure, it's expensive, but I doubt you'd follow a stranger home for something worth just a few hundred bucks," he asks as I pocket the precious pen.

"I do not care to tell you, though I'm grateful that you found it and gave it back."

He pouts. "Don't you trust me?"

I stare at him impassively. "No."

He places his hand over his heart as if wounded. "Ah, you cut me deep, Bo-young."

"I'll get going now. I promised to be back before midnight," I tell him. "Thank you for returning the pen, and thank you for not murdering me."

"Promise that if we meet again, you'll spill your secrets?" Taehyung asks, raising his pinky. I roll my eyes, interlocking my noticeably smaller pinky with his.

"Sure," I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "If we somehow ever meet again in this large city full of tens of thousands of people, I'll tell you my secrets. Now, have a good night."

"You too," he says. I turn to leave, but I stop when he continues. "And Bo-young, you better hurry. It's a quarter to midnight."