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Knock!
The wooden doors to her room slowly creaked open and the girl timidly dove into her blanket. Cautiously, she peeked out from a gap formed by the crease to see a short-haired girl around her age—maybe a bit older—walk in with a tea set and plate of biscuits on the tray in her hands.
Two weeks have passed since Yinn Naron was rescued by members of the Bangtan Corporation at the Underground Auction. During this time, she mainly stayed in her room on the second floor, as she made sense of her situation.
After narrowly escaping the fate of being auctioned off, Yinn now had nowhere to go. Living in a rural neighbourhood had deprived her of any opportunities to establish friendships or social connections with other people, and she feared the unknown world.
Her brown eyes wide with alertness, she continued to stare through the blanket as the short-haired girl gently placed the tray on the table. It was usually Housekeeper Tara who came into her room, but regardless, Yinn felt like she knew the unfamiliar face.
She was the secretary of Kim Seokjin, the leader of Bangtan Corporation. However, Yinn also had a hunch that the girl in front of her had a presence that was more important than a mere secretary.
She recalled all the times she heard laughters and bright conversations that occurred on the other side of the hallway, only meters outside her door. The members of Bangtan Co were close with her. They were comfortable around her.
Their dynamic was something quite painful to witness for someone like Yinn, who had lived her life in darkness.
"Miss Yinn Naron, I've brought you some snacks. It's getting chilly nowadays, so we made some biscuits downstairs. Feel free do go down to get some if you need more." Her voice was calm but friendly.
Behind her, a louder voice rang out from outside the door.
"Miss Secretary, hurry up and come downstairs. We're starting without you!" Jimin's impatient voice reverberated throughout the halls. He and Jungkook were eagerly waiting for the short-haired girl to join their Maple Story game.
The fashionably-dressed man leaned past the door and poked his head into the room. At that moment, he made eye contact with the brown haired girl, who seemed to have something she wanted to say. However, Jimin merely stepped back without prompting her to speak, as if showing his disinterest.
"Miss Secretary, we'll start up the game while you're upstairs," he said casually before heading down the stairs.
Yinn couldn't help but notice the repeated use of the word we.
During her time here, a few members had peeked into her room out of curiosity, but none of them ever took the initiative to talk to her. Not even Kim Seokjin, the owner of the household she stayed at. She recalled the silver-haired man, who they called Park Jimin. He had saved her on the day of the auction, so she had thought he would be interested in her story.
Breaking plates by accident.
Sniffling in her room.
Getting hurt while writing.
She had tried all sorts of subtle acts when she heard their footsteps near her doorway, but the handle that held the entrance to her room never turned even once.
While these thoughts circulated in her head, Yinn spoke to the Secretary for the first time. "You seem to always be with someone."
She could not forget the day of the Auction when she had almost lost her freedom as a human being. In a large auditorium full of masked strangers with number boards in their hands, she was the target of their corrupted desires. While waiting for her turn, Yinn often glanced towards the balcony. She saw the Secretary through the thick glass window, a smug grin on her face as she raised her number pad repeatedly.
Even so, when the auction hall was bombed, the Secretary was the first to be protected, tightly protected in the embrace of those around her.
Those who cared for her.
Why?
Blinking twice, Clarity stared at the timid girl that had hid herself under her blanket.
"You seemed to always be with someone."
Clarity felt awfully wronged at Yinn's passive aggressive comment. Of course she was always with someone. She was the Secretary of Bangtan Corporation. Was that an easy job? Clarity frowned.
She first had to be constantly wary about losing her life, and when she had finally gotten friendly with the members, she still had to fulfill her job as the Secretary and manager of Bangtan.
If she had the choice, she would totally choose to do nothing and sleep all day like mister Kim Seokjin with his across-the-world time schedule. But no.
When the CEO of Bangtan Co was free, she had to run around other members while preparing materials for his upcoming schedules. And when she finally finished all her assigned duties, she was constantly bugged by the maknae line to sit through countless rounds of video games as they completely obliterated her with their pro-like gaming skills.
A small sigh escaped from her lips. Survival really did not come easily in any world.
A frown appeared on Clarity's face as she examined the situation. She was aware that the auction probably took a huge mental burden on the female protagonist, and that it came as no surprise for her to develop trust issues.
However, she did not expect Yinn to take so long to adjust to the Bangtan household, given that all the members were quite friendly towards her in the original plot. In fact, Clarity was certain that if she had stepped out, she'd become best friends with them in no time.
After all, that was what happened when you were the female protagonist.
"If you wish, you can come join us. I'm sure sir Jimin and sir Jungkook would not mind your presence."
Yinn's body seemed to fidget a little at her nonchalant proposal, but Clarity couldn't be bothered to say anything further than that.
In fact, the old her would have went off at the brown haired girl upon hearing her unfriendly tone, but after Clarity had arrived to this world, her perspective had changed. She now had one single emotion inside her head as she faced the female protagonist.
Indifference.
As long as Yinn did not do anything to threaten her survival, Clarity truly couldn't care less about her feelings.
Surely, she had a rough past growing up in a depressing household, but which of the Bangtan members in the novel have not gone through some tragic experience?
It was impossible to impose your worldview on someone else or assume a position of superiority just because you deemed your experience to be 'more severe' than others.
Clarity considered herself far from being a good person, nevertheless a saint, which was why she decided to keep quiet and focus on her own survival.
"MISS SECRETARY! COME! DOWN! NOWWWWWW!" Jungkook's dramatic holler jolted Clarity out of her thoughts as she shuddered.
Jungkook was gynophobic? Where?
It was either that the youngest was intentionally treating her like a man or he did not even see her as a woman.
Neither was leaving a good taste in her mouth.
"I'm coming!" She quickly yelled back before turning to the brown-haired girl under the blanket.
"Miss Yinn Naron. Please enjoy your time here and feel free to reach out if you need anything else." Her tone was formal with a hint of sternness as she headed towards the door.
As always, survival was top priority, even if it meant that she would become the greater person and act nicely to the female protagonist. Plus, there were no benefits in creating unnecessary hostility when she was also a part of the group that went on the trip to Jungkook's cabin.
Clarity was going to do anything to ensure that she avoided her second death flag.
✿✿✿
Beethoven's Pathétique played in the background of the Hyundai Palisade that was making its way to through a rough pathway through the mountains.
The bumpy terrain caused the large vehicle to jerk, throwing its passengers off balance every other minute. When that happened, Jungkook, who was lying down in the trunks area, would throw his hands up like he was riding a roller coaster.
The car hit another bump and for the seventh time on this trip, Clarity lost her balance, leaning right into the arms of Kim Taehyung.
"Sorry," she muttered with her squeaky voice.
Taehyung, on the other hand, seemed to have grown accustomed to her falls and merely nodded his head.
Driver Jung Hoseok drove cheerily with one hand on the steering wheel while Yoongi sat beside him, dozing off on the passenger seat.
In the second row was Namjoon, Seokjin, and Jimin in that respective order.
Namjoon had been reading a book on determinism, but felt car sick and decided to stop before he bestowed rainbow upon the car space. Seokjin and Jimin was engaging in an intense game of tic-tac-toe on their phones.
In the back seats were no other than Clarity and Taehyung who sat in silence as they both listened to the dramatic passages of Pathétique. The raven haired man had his eyes closed. He was either enjoying the music or completely blocking it from his ears as he slept—Clarity couldn't tell between the two.
Clarity, on the other hand, had a thousand thoughts in her head.
Hoseok and Yoongi were at the front. Namjoon, Seokjin, and Jimin were in the second row. Her and Taehyung were in the backseats, while Jungkook was having fun in the trunk.
There was no Yinn Naron.
Clarity's head was full of question marks.
How was the plot supposed to proceed without its female protagonist?
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how are you finding the story so far? let me know your thoughts!
lori ✿