Who you used to be - [p.jm]

48. "You chose your fate, boy."

"You take the left side of the hall", you suggested, implying that you would take the right.

It was a gamble, of course. You didn't have a full view of the hall and had no idea how many guards were stationed in it. Not to mention that the darkness would hinder you. But if those guards were here and not down there fighting with the rest, it meant Hongbin was close. At least you would have the element of surprise.

"Ready?", Taheyung breathed. You nodded.

The two of you bursted through the tapestry, where countless armed guards awaited you. 

Three of them were already dead before they could consider drawing their weapons, two more were knocked out clean with the hilts of your daggers against the heads. The others pulled their guns and you would have to be damn fast to avoid their bullets. You couldn't risk shooting or letting them fire, since it would draw too much attention.

With a few steps you reached the others along the wall and knocked the guns clean from their arms with precise kicks and other maneuvers you'd learned. Some of them you'd spied from Jimin during training.

Behind you, you heard men screaming as well, but no shots being fired. It meant Taehyung was still as skilled as before, when you still lived with him and the rest of the guys. In less than two minutes, all the men were down, some of them whimpering pleas for mercy or prayers. You grabbed one of them by the collar.

"Where's your boss?", you asked, keeping your voice cold and ruthless as you had always learned. During questioning, it was important for them to know - or at least think - that you wouldn't hesitate to end them if they didn't answer.

The man shook his head, his eyes wide when you pulled your dagger out and placed it right on his jugular vein.

"Please", he begged, driplets of sweat running down his forehead. "I have kids!"

"Tell me", you emphasized again, saying every word carefully. "Where Hongbin is and I might spare your sorry life."

Taehyung stood behind you, arms crossed. He put on a menacing look, playing along. You knew he'd always had a too soft heart for interrogations, even though it was a big part of the job. It was why he'd never been as skilled as you or anyone else in the group. But you understood how hard it was and no one had ever blamed him for it.

The man was breathing heavily as he spoke: "The other unit - they said they would lead him to the west wing, to another passage, please I don't know anything else!"

You let him slump to the ground and paced away with Taehyung, cleaning your daggers on your suit.

"You still scare me when you do that", he muttered behind you.

You let out a breathless chuckle, but agreed. You hadn't let that side of yourself show in a while now. It wasn't something you were proud of, none of you were.

~

After passing through several hallways and passages and disarming more guards without making noise, a while had passed. You began sweating.

"At this rate he'll have already escaped", you muttered, putting your daggers away again. "We're losing time hunting him down like this."

"The bastard is playing with us", Taehyung sneered and took a moment to think. "He's leading us around the mansion to buy time and hide, hoping we'll get killed along the way. He probably gave his men wrong information in case they were questioned."

You took a look around, feeling like you'd only been lead in circles. Every hallway looked the same and after walking through so many confusing secret passages, even your assassin training hadn't helped you figure out where you were, just as the man had probably planned. Maybe it had been a bad decision going without Jimin.