The golden bell above the wooden door jiggled as it cracked open to reveal three men. The light seeping into the gas-station from the windows, traced it's finger along the cursive letters carved into the singing bell before tumbling down and sliding along the sharp features of these men.
The woman at the counter glanced up from her computer, not even hiding how her face scrunched up in surprise at the sight of them. The gas-station was too close to the prison, which obviously would lead to barely any customers since anyone rarely drove through the road next to it. Maybe an occasional traveler or a visitor of a prisoner, stopped by to fill their fuel-tanks on their way. But what surprised the woman the most, was that she hadn't heard the rumble of a car before the three men showed up, meaning, they had walked there.
The woman's eyes narrowed in suspicion and the plastic smile on her face soured, ever so slowly, she dragged her gaze along their bodies and drank in what she could see.
The first man confidently strode through the door and inhaled a large puff of the stuffy air as if the scent of dust was like a cold glass of water placed in front of his parched body. The man was shorter than the two men behind him, yet his thighs were thicker and more muscular as they pressed against the pair of joggers- straining with each movement. Fluffy, brown locks fell loosely around his head and swayed against his eyebrows. And despite the ghost of a smile on his face, the small man's eyes seemed to be shining almost predatorily as he drank in the store until they settled on the still woman at the counter.
"Well, hello, there!" The words twisted and curved in the back of Jimin's throat before slithering through his plump lips and surfing through the air until they reached the woman's ears.
Sensing a hint of amusement laced between the crevices of Jimin's words, the woman straightened out and sent them a stiff nod, "Hello, can I help you?" She asked cautiously, allowing her eyes to crawl over to the two guys behind Jimin as they slipped past him and walked out of her sight by entering one of the aisles.
Jimin's shoes smacked against the ground- leaving behind a trail of dirt with tints of blood swirled in the mixture, "You can." Jimin hummed through his throat, pausing on his way to the counter to twist around on his heel and eye the shelf filled with snacks. Jimin's head tilted to the side and a Pearl of sweat rolled down his temple. He raised his hands- using one to flick away the sweat and brush his hair in front of the bloody cut running along his temple, and the other to wrap his fingers around a bar of chocolate.
Jimin pivoted around on his heel, causing the girl to flinch at the sudden movement. His head lolled to the side and lips parted into an innocent smile, "Sorry." He huffed out a breathless giggle, moving forward towards the counter.
The woman behind the counter stood stiff as she watched him approach, yet occasionally allowed her eyes to bounce towards the direction the two other men disappeared to. Once Jimin stopped in front of her, and peered back at her with a charming smile and a quirk of his eyebrow, she lifted her lips into a smile and tried to loosen the tight grip of tension from her shoulders.
"This." Jimin spoke through his grin, reaching out and placing the candy down on the counter without looking away from the woman's eyes, "I would like this." He elaborated, jerking his chin into the direction of the candy and even pointing his finger at it to make the woman look down instead.
Her gaze drifted towards the snack, drinking in the purple wrapper and the melted caramel displayed on top of it, which gave Jimin the opportunity to glance down at the golden tag attached to her chest.
'Minjun'
"Minjun, darling." Jimin purred, smacking his palm down on the counter next to the candy bar, earning himself a jump of surprise and two wide eyes blinking back at him owlishly. He leaned over the counter and lowered his voice as if he was murmuring a life threatening secret to her, "Where's the bathroom?"
Minjun's shoulders slumped at the question and thin lips parted to release a breath of relief. She raised her hand and pushed her round glasses further up her nose before shoving her finger towards the white door near the counter, "Th..there, sir." Minjun stuttered before clearing her throat and straightening out. She dropped her hand and took a hold of the chocolate, "Will that be all, sir?" She spoke through a flickering smile, hesitantly stepping over to the cash register.
Jimin beamed back at her until his face scrunched up into an adorable smile. He whirled around to face the direction of Hoseok before cupping his mouth and calling out through the shop, "Hey, Hoesuckle, you want something?" The sharp bellow sliced through the air like a heated knife, leaving the sizzling silence to lay against the tiles lifelessly.
The cashier jumped once again, only this time allowing a startled gasp to bounce past her lips and knock on Jimin's eardrums. The latter glanced at her from over his shoulder and sent her a smile. Veins of darkness swam along the seam of his lips and placed a kiss on the edge of them, "Jumpy." Jimin commented, just as Hoseok peered around the corner.
"Where's the bathroom?" Hoseok asked instead, narrowing his gaze to glance between Minjun and Jimin, not even bothering to answer Jimin's empty question.
The small mochi eyed the counter to his left and reached out to grab a pack of bubblegum, all while raising his hand and pointing it at the door behind Hoseok. The latter peered over his shoulder and rolled his eyes once he noticed the plastic sign with a toilet carved into it, next to a door that wasn't even a metre away from him.
"Right." Hoseok grumbled under his breath, disappearing behind the shelf once again, only to reappear a minute later with his arm wrapped around Taehyung's waist.
Minjun's eyes crawled down the length of Taehyung's body- immediately noticing his sickly pale skin and the way he stumbled after Hoseok, "Is your friend alright?" She muttered under her breath, still keeping her eyes locked on Taehyung until the pair disappeared into the bathroom.
"Huh?" Jimin's head flung up when the question grabbed him by the scruff and lifted him away from the packaging he was reading. His eyes flickered from Minjun and over to the bathroom door as it slammed shut, "Oh, yeah, he's completely fine." Jimin waved his hand at her, swatting away the worries tugging on the ends of her shoulder-length hair.
The woman's smile faltered and dimmed, her eyes drifted back over to the bathroom, causing Jimin to exhale in annoyance and lean over the counter to whisper in her ear, "We went on a road trip together and our car crashed down nearby. My friend, well, has a bit of a...drinking problem." Jimin breathed, allowing a thread of deceit to pierce each word and seal them together until they formed a sentence.
"Oh..." The cashier muttered and took a small step back to create some distance between them. Her throat bobbed and hand rose to brush her fingers against the back of her neck. Minjun's eyes glued themselves onto Jimin, and the only time she glanced away, was to blink up at the camera hovering above her head.
Jimin noticed the excess fidgeting and trembling eyes rolling to glance into the direction of the camera. He could practically feel the suspicion and anxiety intertwining their hands, and swinging them back and forth, causing ripples in the air between them.
A predatory smile tried to push through Jimin's sealed lips and claim the throne on top of them, yet Jimin merely pointed at the chocolate bar in Minjun's hand, all while twisting away and prancing towards the other side of the store, "I'll go grab something more." He sang to her with a barely concealed smile, earning himself another owlish blink in return.
Jimin's shoes squeaked against the tiles of the store as he wondered away from the front counter to explore the rest of the establishment. He extended his hand and brushed the tips of his fingers against chips on the shelf to his left. Honeycomb eyes greedily sucked in the food animated on the bright coloured packets of ships, only for Jimin to suddenly stop mid-step. His leg hovered a few centimetres above the ground as he stared at the cheesy balls made by Cheetos.
Chubby fingers reached out and snatched the bag off the shelf- accidentally knocking his knuckles into the bag next to it with his brash movement. The bag of chips toppled over and slammed into the ground before deflating and pouting up at the brown haired assassin. Jimin's brow quirked up in response and eyes quickly dipped down, he sent the pouting bag an unimpressed glance before bouncing his attention back on the chips grasped between his fingers.
The yellow bag got rotated between his palms as Jimin greedily drank in the sight of it. Globs of drool formed in the space between his teeth and cheeks before sliding down to fill the rest of his mouth. Who knows when was the last time Jimin ate balls drenched in cheese powder, he doesn't even know when was the last time he ate. He was too busy to worry and plot against Yoongi to care about such trivial things as eating.
Jimin couldn't stop himself from ripping the bag open and shoving his nose into it to inhale a lungful of cheese powder. "Fuck..." The moan slipped along the length of Jimin's tongue and dipped its feet into the open bag. His tongue ran over his dry lips as he pulled his nose out of the bag- immediately scrunching it up when the delicious scent of cheese got replaced by the musty store.
Jimin's nose wrinkled and smile was sliced in half by an oncoming frown, but just as quickly as the smile disappeared, Jimin pushed his fingers into the back and pulled out a handful of yellow balls. The cheese powder from the chips jumped onto Jimin's palm and cuddled into him instead.
The chips widened their eyes as they were brought towards Jimin's plump lips, that parted with a single string of drool connecting between each lip. The handful of chips was shoved into Jimin's gaping mouth until his palm was pressed against his lips. He dropped his hand to his chest and brushed away the cheese dust clinging to his skin, all while trying to shut his lips as his teeth swam through the sea of cheese puffs.
Jimin whirled around on his heel, only to come across a shelf filled with candy. The expression on his face lightened and his lips stretched into a wide smile, allowing the camera hanging over his head to capture a glimpse of the mush of cheese puffs displayed inside his mouth.
Jimin pounced towards the shelf and grabbed the first packet of Reese's he could see. He pushed the chip bag under his elbow and swallowed down the remains of the chips, all while running his thumb along the packet of Reese's and walking out of the aisle.
Jimin rounded to corner with a new skip in each step, causing his brown locks to bounce against his forehead. But the second he rounded the corner and noticed the wall of freezers with ice cream and cooled beverages, Jimin froze as if he had stepped into a mousetrap and glued his soles against the tiles.
The bag of cheese balls fell to the ground, along with Jimin's mouth. A few balls took this as an opportunity to slide out of the bag and roll across the tiles until they were hidden underneath the shelf. Jimin's brows rose to his hairline, while his eyes grew larger with each passing second. He was quick to flinch forward and dash towards the first freezer, ripping it open and allowing the artificial winter to sway through the opening and blow it's icy breath into his face.
A path of goosebumps was left behind by each caress of the cold air, yet Jimin didn't seem bothered by it as he leaned forward and grabbed the first drink he could see. He didn't even read the label as the drink was unscrewed and the cap was throw to the ground, only when Jimin pressed the rim of the bottle against his lips and tilted his head back to chug down the drink, did Jimin realise that he was drinking chocolate milk.
Jimin choked as the sweet taste of chocolate mixed together with the cheese powder sprinkled along the insides of his cheeks. He ripped the bottle away from his lips before spitting the milk back inside and looking around him to see if anyone else had been watching him, despite knowing that the store was empty.
Droplets of chocolate milk held tightly onto the seam of Jimin's lips, only to be swept away by the collar of his shirt. He released the shirt and allowed it to flatten against his chest as he bent down to retrieve the bottle-cap of the chocolate milk. He grabbed the cap and screwed the bottle shut before standing up and placing it back in the place where he grabbed it.
Just as Jimin was pushing the freezer door shut with a small smirk carving its place in his lips, a furious Minjun rounded the corner and began to stomp towards him. Her cheeks were flushed a ruby red and eyes were narrowed into a glare- hiding the coffee colour swaying along the edges of the white cup that was the whites of her eyes.
"Hey!" Minjun pressed her tongue against her teeth and hissed at him. She stomped over to a smirking Jimin and snatched the Reese's pack out of his hand. Jimin's brows shot up and lips parted, only for Minjun to reach around him and slam the freezer door shut, "You can't do that! You have to pay for these things first!" Minjun snapped, gripping the Reese's tightly until the packet crumbled and popped open.
Jimin's eyes fell down on her hand and he sucked in his cheeks- watching the crushed chcolate squeeze out of the hole on the bag and smear the inside of her palm, "You have a little something.." Jimin trailed off, wiggling his finger in the direction of her stained hand.
A crease formed between Minjun's eyebrows and a breath of confusion puffed through her lips, she glanced down at her hand to see the chocolate staining her fingers. Jimin chuckled and pushed past her to stride towards the ice cream section. He placed his hands on the swell of his hips and eyed the small selection of ice cream until his eyes fell on Ben & Jerry's.
"I think you sho..." Minjun began to speak as she turned around to face Jimin, only for her words to die out on her tongue once she caught the sight of Jimin pulling open the freezer door and snatching a tub of Ben&Jerry's off the shelf, "Hey!" Minjun gasped in surprise, quickly springing forward as she watched Jimin casually rip the tub open and shove his fingers into it.
The coldness of the ice cream snuggled into Jimin's fingers, yet he still didn't seem phased as he scooped the ice cream out of the tub and pushed his fingers into his mouth. His tongue rolled the ice cream along his mouth and smacked it against the roof of it, he could feel the bristles on his tongue dancing as they bathed in the delicious burst of flavour.
"This is so good." Jimin pivoted around on his heel and slammed the door shut with his hip. He turned to face Minjun and stared at her through slitted eyes as he scooped another glob of ice cream with his fingers and pushed them into his mouth.
The smacking of Jimin's lips and appreciative moans was the only thing that caressed the walls of the store until Minjun stepped towards him and reeled her hand back. The smirk on Jimin's face was smashed off of the throne of his lips as Minjun smacked her hand against Jimin's, and caused the ice-cream to topple out of his hand and crash into the ground.
The ice cream splattered against the tiles of the store and filled the crevices between them. The contrast of temperature made the ice cream melt quicker and created a pool of sweetness around the chocolate and cookie dough bits.
"You're paying for that!" Minjun snarked, reaching out and latching into Jimin's wrist, not noticing how his gaze turned dangerous and, ever so slowly, dragged towards the place where she was gripping onto him. Minjun threw her hand out and gestured towards the bag of chips and the freezer, "You're gonna pay for everything you damaged or I'm calling the cops."
Velvety shades of red seeped through Jimin's eyes and filled his head, he slowly lifted his chin and stared at the girl through his lashes. One dangerous curve of his lips and a step forward, was enough for Minjun's anger to fade and her wariness to resurface. Jimin's pink tongue dipped out of his mouth and licked up at the leftover ice cream smeared along the edge of his lips.
"I suggest you let go." A low purr rumbled in the depths of Jimin's throat and crawled past his pearly white teeth. The words were clinging to each other, fearing the dangerous undertone and warning shadowing them.
Minjun's throat bobbed, and hand was snatched back and pushed against her chest. She took a step back, feeling the danger oozing out of Jimin and filling the store around them. Her gaze didn't leave Jimin's body as she watched the small assassin smile at her wordlessly before brushing past her and walking back towards the bathroom.
A trail of fiery red anger was left behind Jimin as he glided along the store and towards the bathroom. His fingers flexed by his sides- images of strangling the foolish girl taunting and snickering at him. Jimin knew that killing her would leave behind traces for Yoongi to find once he reached this place during his hunt for Jimin. But then again, the tracker inside his belly already told Yoongi where he was, so he could easily kill the girl and leave a little gift for Yoongi to find.
Jimin visible shook away the thoughts nagging him with harsh pokes in the ribs. He reached the bathroom door and nudged it open with his sticky fingers, allowing it to sway open, and reveal Hoseok and Taehyung. The latter was leaning against Hoseok with his back towards the only mirror in the narrow space. His face was pushed into Hoseok's shoulder and body shook with soft cries as Hoseok caressed his back with gentle mumbles against the shell of his ear.
At the sound of the hinges squeaking when the door opened, Taehyung lifted his head, and revealed his puffy red eyes and the crystalline tears sticking to his cheeks. Jimin froze in the doorway as Taehyung stared back at him with a hiccup and a wobble to his lips.
"Wh..why didn't you tell m..me?" Taehyung rasped at Jimin with a small gasp of air between his words- staring back at a surprised Jimin with teary eyes.
Jimin pressed his lips together and hesitantly stepped further into the bathroom, he allowed the door to click shut behind him and eyes to momentarily flick over to a guilty looking Hoseok. Jimin's eyes narrowed in return and lips smacked shut, he exhaled a deep breath through his nose before looking at Taehyung, "Tell you what, pup?" Jimin managed to push out, taking another hesitant step towards the crying assassin.
"You..you were just gonna leave me!" Taehyung accused with a small crack in his raspy voice. He pressed his hands against Hoseok's chest and pushed him away, the ex-prisoner stumbled back with raised hands, yet still allowed Taehyung to catch himself on the sink and stumble towards Jimin with trembling legs.
"I thought we..we were soulmates but you were just gonna separate from us and run away! I have known you my entire life and you're just gonna leave now? I don't know how to live without you, Jiminie!" The words shooting out of Taehyung's mouth, left behind a scent of anger and betrayal in it's wake, the pain he felt was transported onto Jimin as each word slammed into him like a bullet.
Jimin straightened out and gazed at Taehyung with narrowed eyes, "Do you really think you're the one who should talk about leaving someone behind?" He grumbled lowly, pushing the memory of Taehyung leaving him, when he needed him the most, into the words before offering them to the crestfallen puppy.
The anger flooded out of Taehyung, leaving him to slump against the sink. Beads of sweat clung to his sickly pale skin and his slitted eyes averted to the ground at Jimin's words, "I know I've made mistakes..."
"It's not about that." Jimin immediately shot him down, confidently striding towards the paper disperser. He ripped out a few paper towels before walking up to him and gently reaching out to brush Taehyung's hair out of his eyes. The puppy's lip continued to tremble and eyes stared down at the shirt Jimin wore as the latter dabbed the paper towel against his forehead, "Yoongi inserted a tracker inside of me, a tracker that I can't remove. He'll keep hunting me down until he finds me and I just can't put you in that kind of risk, nor do I want to be the reason why you're abandoning your dreams."
"You told me yourself, Tae." Jimin exhaled softly, gulping down the words threatening to claw out and lash at Taehyung. His lips lifted into an empty smile as he brushed away the sweat from Taehyung's forehead before turning and throwing the drenched paper into the bin next to the counter, "You told me that you want to be with Hoseok, that you want to do something other than killing people and that you want to settle down."
Taehyung chewed on the edge of his lip and finally lifted his eyes when Jimin stepped away and created some distance between them. Taehyung knew that Jimin would never hurt him, but the kitten was unpredictable and the dangerous aura looming behind him, was enough for Taehyung to cower away in fear and hesitance.
"Hoseok gave you a choice." Jimin continued, glancing into the mirror to make eye-contact with Hoseok, who was watching them carefully in case Jimin lashed out, "Well, I'm not like him. I won't make you choose between watching me suffer alone and suffering with me. I'll make the choice for you, Taehyung." Jimin looked away from Hoseok and glared into Taehyung's eyes, "and there's nothing you can do about it."
Taehyung's lips parted to release a breath of shock and his eyes were owlish as they followed after Jimin. The latter had never addressed or treated him so firmly and coldly, Jimin had always dotted after him - concern and softness lacing through each words and gesture directed towards Taehyung. Not even when they were fighting, had Jimin stopped himself from giving Taehyung some food during dinner and later crawled into his bed to cuddle with him as an apology. This was the first time Jimin was treating him like this and Taehyung didn't know what to think.
"Chim..." He trailed off- voice barely louder than the droplets of water leaking through the closed tap behind him. Jimin didn't give a sign that he had heard what Taehyung had said, and even if he had heard him, the kitten kept his face cold and eyes forward as he began to walk out towards the exit.
The small gangster was angry and hurt, he couldn't help feel bitter towards Taehyung. All his life Jimin thought that Taehyung would've had his back and been there through the roughest of times. And now that those times had arrived in the form of Min Yoongi, Taehyung suddenly announced his desire to leave the gang and Jimin for a life of safety and comfort- not even realising that he was the only safety and comfort Jimin had amongst this life of hate and death.
Truthfully, Jimin wanted to give Taehyung a choice and, selfishly enough, he had hoped that Taehyung would've joined him on a one last mission- running away from Yoongi. But after going into that bathroom and hearing what Taehyung had said, Jimin came to the realisation that Taehyung wasn't crying because of the life he lost since, now, he would have to accompany Jimin on the runaway life. No. Taehyung was crying because he knew that even if he had been given a choice, that choice would of ended up with them parting ways and Taehyung never seeing Jimin again.
So Jimin took pity on Taehyung, he allowed him to believe that his subconscious mind wasn't what made the decision of not following Jimin, but the monster who made it, was Jimin himself. It would be easier on Taehyung, to not blame himself, but blame Jimin for taking away the choice from him. Jimin granted Taehyung the chance to suppress his subconsciousness and allowed him to act like he would've come with the mochi if he could make the decision for himself. And if Jimin shut his eyes and imagined, he, too, could create the vision of deceit that Taehyung desperately wanted to go with him but Jimin's love for Taehyung was what kept him at bay.
With his hand lingering on the door and the claws of bitter anger sliding along his back, Jimin pushed his tongue against the inside of his cheek and murmured through gritted teeth, "I'll get the keys to the car outside, you two have to leave before Yoongi catches up, it won't be long."
Behind him, Hoseok finally began to move- approaching Taehyung with cautious footsteps, "We'll be out in a second." Hoseok said back, voice not hushed in anger like Jimin, or stuttered like Taehyung's.
Jimin's head swung around and he offered Hoseok a parting glower before stomping outside with the door slamming shut behind him. Jimin began to approach the empty counter as he raised his hand and brushed it through his hair. He stopped in front of the counter and stared down at his opened bag of cheese puffs, the nearly empty ice-cream tub, and crushed Reese's.
The front of Jimin's shoe continuously smacked against the ground due to his impatience and the lack of Minjun's presence. He leaned forward against the counter until his hips were touching the edge of it. Jimin peered over it to see if Minjun was laying there or something, but the girl was nowhere to be found. Jimin fell back on his feet with a roll of his eyes before twisting his head around to survey the area.
The aisles Jimin could see from his place at the counter, were deserted with no sight of the uptight woman. Jimin's brows knitted together and tension loomed behind him with its hand settled on top of his shoulder. Suspicion poked him in the side and gestured towards the direction where Jimin had spilled his ice cream, as if to say, maybe she's mopping your mess.
Jimin hummed deeply in the back of his throat and began to take careful steps towards the direction. Each squeak of his shoes caused Jimin's heart to skip and tremble behind his ribcage, it peered around the edge of one of the ribs and held its breath as Jimin rounded the corner of the last aisle. The kitten's shoes screeched to a stop and the glower on his face faltered at the sight of Minjun angrily grumbling to herself while mopping the floor.
Now with the anxiety of Yoongi finding him and sneaking into the shop to kill all of them, swatted away by the sight of the very much alive cashier, the smugness quickly pranced towards him and wrapped its arms around Jimin's tiny frame, "Oh, don't mop, hun, you'll get wrinkles." Jimin snickered at his own joke, enjoying the way the girl whipped around and offered him a sour scowl, "Oh, look." Jimin gasped, waving a finger at her face, "I think you already got one."
The girl's face scrunched up even more before she exhaled deeply and straightened out. She faced Jimin and allowed the mop to hang off of her fingers as she told him, "Will you be able to pay for your things or do you want me to call the cops, sir?"
The devious smirk tugging on Jimin's lips only widened until his teeth were seen, his eyes scrunched up, hiding the melted honey swirling within them. Jimin's teeth parted and the words began to crawled through the back of his throat, only for a muted rumble to surf through the air and pinch at his earlobe.
Jimin's head swung around and he straightened out, the smile on his shattered into millions of tiny shards and was replaced by parted lips as he watched a cop car roll down the road. Jimin's lips smacked shut and eyes stayed glued on the car, don't turn in, Jimin scribbled the thought into the walls of his mind, watching the car roll closer and closer towards the driveway of the gas-station.
"Hey, you good?"
Jimin ignored Minjun and kept his eyes stuck to the cop car- silently repeating in his mind his hopes of it not entering the gas-station. But his silent prayers to the universe seemed to be denied as the car turned into the driveway and rolled towards the shop.
"Shit!" Jimin gasped, ducking down so that he was out of sight. He blinked down at the dirt stuck between two tiles and tried to control the pants pushing against his lungs. Jimin was sure that this was Yoongi or one of his men, the gas-station was too deserted for it to have a visitor while Jimin and the rest were here. But what to do now? He didn't know who was in that car or how many of them were there, maybe there was a whole road filled with cops hiding behind the shield of trees.
A hand latched onto Jimin's shoulder, causing him to spring forward and rip the limb away from him. Minjun cried out in pain at the pain whizzing through her arm. She ripped it away from Jimin and cradled it against her chest, "Wh..what the fuck!" She hissed, glaring down at Jimin with hostility glimmering along her irises. She rubbed her shoulder blade before huffing down at him, "I'm gonna call the cops."
The anger inside of Jimin flared along with a new idea, he pounced towards the girl and grabbed her before she could even take a step forward. Jimin pressed his hand against her mouth and wrapped his arm around her waist, he dragged her wriggling body behind the shelf to shield them both from the windows.
"Alright..." Jimin panted into Minjun's tied hair, pressing his back against the shelf and trying to peer around it to stare at the eerily still car just sitting there. Jimin couldn't see anything through the tinted windows, which only made his heart thump louder, "Alright, listen here. I'm an undercover cop, my friends are ones too." The buttery lies mixed in the bowl in Jimin's head before pouring out of his mouth, yet they still made Minjun still and stop fighting, "We were sent on a mission to stop a crime organisation that deals with...terrorists. But they found out that we were spying on them and they tried to kill us, that's why my friend was limping and why I was so hungry."
"We tried to run away using our car but they ambushed us and we had to come here on foot. Now they have our car and they have come after us." Jimin finished rambling with a dramatic exhale of breath. He pulled away the palm covering a shell-shocked Minjun's mouth and turned her around so that they could face each other, "They're outside right now and when they find us, they're gonna kill everyone inside this establishment." Jimin's eyes narrowed and lips thinned out to show Minjun that he was serious.
The girl's eyes widened in fear before she tried to push out of his tight grip, yet Jimin tightened his hold with a roll of his eyes, "Let me go! I have to call the cops!"
"I am the cops!" Jimin spat back, shaking her until she was too dazed to push against him, "Now calm the fuck down and help me out or I swear to god I'll kill you before they can even lay their eyes on you!" The growl ripped through his chest and wrapped it's hands around Minjun's neck, the anger and venom inside the deadly grip made her gasp for air and stare back at Jimin with wide eyes.
Jimin sighed and released her arm to pinch the bridge of his nose, "Sorry, sorry, a bit of a slip up, what I meant to say was..." Jimin dropped his hand to his side and scrunched his face into a cute smile, "Can you help me please?" Jimin chirped innocently, turning his head to the side and blinking up at her through his crescent eyes.
"What the fuck." The girl breathed out just as the door to the gas-station slammed open with the bell above it wiggling widely.
Jimin's face immediacy turned serious, he turned to face Minjun and pressed his finger against his lips to shush her. The steady clicks of heels scrambled along the walls around them and thrummed against the shelves just as Jimin leaned forward to whisper into Minjun's ear.
≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪
A tall woman with ice blond hair entered the store, it was perfectly cut just below her ears and swiped to the sides to reveal her forehead. Her dark skin contrasted against the white hair and glowed in the mid-day sun. Her glasses slipped down the slope of her nose as she peered over them to survey the store until they fell on the products on top of the counter.
The woman's heels clicked against the ground and exposed arms swayed by her sides. The woman wore skin-tight ripped jeans and a strap-shirt that was pushed into her pants and held into place by a belt. She stepped in front of the counter and eyed the products before reaching out a hand and dinging the bell on the counter.
The clock on the other side of the counter ticked a few times until, finally, a young girl scrambled away from the other end of the store. Her eyes were wide with barely concealed panic and lips were forced into a trembling smile.
"Sorry, sorry!" Minjun called out, stumbling to take her place on the other side of the counter. She tried not to sweat under the piercing gaze of the black woman, which turned to be futile when she saw a manicured hand reach out and tap against the products Jimin had chosen.
"Someone else here?" The woman rose a brow on her angular face, peering down at Minjun from over the tip of her sharp nose.
"N..no." Minjun stuttered, averting her eyes for a split second, which earned her a twitch of the woman's bow-shaped lips.
"So you eat during work hours." The woman stated, delicately placing her palm against the counter next to the open bag of Cheetos. She leaned closer to Minjun and pursued her lips, "Do you at least pay for the food, honey?"
The condescending tone and the judgemental drag of her eyes down the length of Minjun's body didn't settle with the cashier. She tensed and narrowed her eyes up at the woman, "Can I help you with anything, ma'am?" Minjun gritted through thin lips, earning herself a forced smile in return.
"Just a brush of politeness." The black woman waved her hand at the younger girl, pulling her glasses off of her nose and hooking them around her shirt. She jutted out her lips and eyed the store in a way that made Minjun think that she had some sort of x-ray vision that allowed her to see through the shelves and the walls of the bathroom.
The door opened once more and the little bell gave a warning in the form of a song. Minjun's eyes left the woman and focused on the male standing in the doorway. The man was a Korean descent with wrinkled skin and greying tufts of hair. His sharp eyes immediately latched onto Minjun and he began to march towards her with determination.
The man was shorter than the black woman next to him, yet his body was thicker and more muscular. Minjun could see the strain in his white shirt as he strode through the shop until he reached the counter and stood next to his accomplice.
"Anything?" The rough edges of each word crooked and twisted in a deformed away. The scratchiness of the man's voice gave away the fact that he had been punched in the throat too many times for it to be good for his vocal cords.
The black woman's lips briefly quirked up into a smirk and her black fingernail tapped against the snacks on the counter between them, "She says she was eating this." The woman snickered, sending her partner a look.
"I was!" Minjun snapped, flicking her eyes between the pair.
The man ignored her and chose to grab the empty tub of ice-cream in order to bring it up to his face and read the label. But as soon as his fingers came in contact with the tub, the sticky ice cream on its side smeared against them. The man ripped his hand away with a slight gag and wiped it against the button shirt with a bitter grimace on his face.
"Call Jessi and tell them we found Park." The man nodded towards the exit of the store, not hiding his sour scowl as he eyed the surrounding area, all while brushing his hand against his shirt.
The woman's head whipped towards the man and she sent him a confused flutter of her lashes, "But we don't know if we have Park..." she trailed off cautiously, trying not to convey that she was questioning his decision, even if she was.
But with a single glare in her direction, the woman pursued her lips and turned away to exit the store. Minjun's eyes followed her and watched the woman pull out a phone and begin to tap against the screen.
The old man snapped his fingers in front of her face to gather her attention back on him, "Girl." He leered at Minjun, not hiding his distaste, "Where's the lavender haired short man that came into the store?"
Minjun's eyes knitted in genuine confusion, lavender, she whispered in her mind, but the cop that had entered was brown haired and none of the other police officers were lavender haired either, "Sorry, sir, but there hasn't been any lavender haired men here." Minjun spoke confidently, allowing the truth to prance around her words.
He analysed her for a moment longer before, finally, giving her an indifferent shrug of his shoulders and reaching into his pocket to pull out a wallet, "I'll take one red Marlboro." The man nodded his chin into the direction of the cigarette vitrine behind her.
Minjun bobbed her head wordlessly and turned her back on the man. Her heart thrummed against her chest and sweat built up against her temples, she could feel the man's eyes burning into her skin until it almost began to sizzle at the intensity of it. With a trembling hand, Minjun slid the case open and pulled out the pack of cigarettes before slamming it shut and turning around to face the man.
Minjun placed it on the counter next to the bag of chips and swallowed down her nerves, "Anything else you'd like, sir?" She asked, inching her fingers towards the cash register.
"The bathroom."
A wave of cold tension washed over the store and swaddled it into a blanket of winter. Minjun exhaled a breath and was surprised to see that it didn't turn into a cloud of white smoke. She could feel the presence of Jimin fill the store until it almost burst through its seams, for a split second, she even thought that she saw the male move along her peripheral vision.
"I'm sorry, sir, but the...the bathroom...it's closed." Minjun barely pushed the words out with her tongue barely moving, taking a hold of the cigarettes to scan them and tap her fingers against the buttons on the cash register.
"That's a shame." The man clicked his tongue with a shake of his head, staring down at his sticky fingers for a second longer before looking up at Minjun, "Get yourself together girl, you're sweating all over my cigarettes." He grumbled, scrunching up his face and leaning over the counter to snatch the cigarettes out of her hand.
Minjun's fist curled shut as soon as it was empty of the cigarettes, she narrowed her eyes down on the cash register and stabbed her fingers into the buttons harsher than before, "It's gonna be..." Minjun looked up and began to say, only for the guy to throw a couple of paper bills down on the counter.
"Yeah, yeah." The man grumbled in return, waving his hand at her face as if to swat her words away from his direction and wave them back into her face.
Minjun flinched back at the scent of cigarettes wafting away from the man's fingers, her hand rose to press against her nose to shield it from the foul odour, while the other hand reached out to collect the bills. While Minjun was opening the cash register and placing the bills inside of it, she saw the man push his cigarettes into his pocket and stare into the direction of the bathroom.
"So the toilet's broken, huh?" The man asked, crossing his arms over his buff chest. Minjun hummed mindlessly, not thinking about the question until the man's voice rung through the store once more, "That's good, because I only need to wash my hands."
And with that, the man began to make his way towards the bathroom, not even bothering to listen to Minjun's panicked stuttering that turned into desperate pleas for the man to not go in there. And just as he had reached the bathroom and wrapped his sticky fingers around the doorknob, a loud bang echoed through the store and cut through Minjun's voice.
The man paused and let his hand hover for a split second before twisting his neck to stare at the other end of the store where the sound came from. He dropped his hand to his side and almost seemed to grin as he slid along the store towards the back, "Found you." The man sang through a growing smirk, not even sparing Minjun a glance as he walked past her, which seemed to be a mistake since as soon as his back was turned to her, the girl dashed towards the bathroom and scrambled inside of it.
The clicking of the man's shoes against the tiles and his laboured breathing gently prodded at the silence hovering above the store like an early morning dew. The man walked between the aisles, making sure to peer into each one until he finally reached the end.
The sight of an entire shelf of drinks crashed and scattered across the ground, with the freezer door still hanging open, greeted the man. One of the chocolate milk bottles had been split open, allowing the milk to pool out and coat the other bottles. The man looked around and his smile faltered when he didn't see Jimin anywhere.
With steady steps, he began to inch towards the scene- not even bothering to analyse what had caused the bottles to fall since he knew that someone had swiped the entire shelf off with one fluid sweep of the hand.
"Park Jimin, I know you're here!" The man taunted, allowing his eyes to linger on the bottles for a moment longer. The smirk on his face returned as he faced the direction of the bathroom, "Better to come out now so that you won't gain any unnecessary injuries. You'll need to be in your best shape when I take you back to Jessi!" He bellowed throughout the store.
The answer he received wasn't in the form of words, rather in the form of thuds that became louder and closer by each passing second. The man didn't understand where the noise was coming from or what had caused it, but he was clever enough to jump out of the way when the shelf in front of him began to creak and topple into his direction.
The shelf slammed into the ground from the domino effect caused by the brown haired assassin standing on the opposite side of the store. A cloud of dust rose in the air between them and the products on the shelves crashed and shattered- spilling its contents all over the tiles underneath the fallen shelves.
The man stumbled back and coughed at the dust, waving his hand in front of his nose. The small mochi had a confident twist in his lips with one of his legs perched on top of the first fallen shelf. His smirk seemed to almost widen as Jimin cooed out his words, "Do you want me to say something cliche and cringy before we start fighting, or are you going to move your old legs so that I could kill you and we could get this over with?" Jimin raised his other foot and stepped on top of the first shelf. Without removing his gaze from the older man, Jimin began to climb over the fallen shelves, "How about we just get this over with, instead of exchanging words that I'll forget as soon as you're dead?"
The older man's eyes dragged along Jimin's body and lips twisted into a crooked grimace. He eyed the bloody cut peeking through Jimin's hair and the slight wobble to his steps with morbid fascination, "Sure, maybe you'll talk once you're brought back to your leader." He snickered, jabbing at the sore spot in Jimin's chest from the realisation that these people weren't here because of Yoongi, but rather because of Jessi.
"Enough talking." Jimin snapped, jumping down from the shelf he was standing on and onto she shelf underneath it. The broken glass bottles underneath the shelf cracked from the shift in the weight and the shelf creaked in protest as Jimin began to climb over it by placing the middle of his foot on each edge of the shelf.
Jimin was aware that Minjun had went to inform Hoseok and Taehyung about the presence of these two people, just as he knew that the cashier had led them out of the store. Jimin had seen them head outside, while he was waiting for the unknown man to reach the freezer area. This meant that Hoseok and Taehyung were about to separate with him and head on their way, which will leave Jimin alone with the assassin.
Jimin didn't know who this guy was, but it seemed that the man knew him very well. He had listened to everything that the man had said and realised that Jessi had sent him after Jimin with the description that Jimin has lavender hair. This meant that Yoongi wasn't the one who sent these people because, one, Yoongi knew that Jimin had dyed his hair and, two, these two idiots didn't even bother to hide the fact that Jessi was the one behind this move. The only question Jimin had was what did Jessi want with him?
Jimin hopped onto the next shelf- now only one separating the old man and him. He gazed back at the man with a look of smugness, that faltered for a split second as the man reached his hand behind himself and pulled out a gun. The air around them sucked in a deep breath and allowed the tension to step through the door and survey the area.
Jimin stilled on top of the shelf, yet still turned his chin upward and stared down at him from over the tip of his nose, "A gun? Really? Well, you can consider me disappointed." Jimin exhaled dramatically and shook his head, hooking his hand around the swell of his hip. His eyes fleeted back over to the man and a gentle touch of arrogance was all that was needed for Jimin to giggle breathlessly, while gazing down at the man like he was only born for Jimin to use him as a mop to sweep his mud off of the ground, "How disappointing." He clicked his tongue and cooed once more just as the door behind him cracked open with the bell giggling to itself.
The man whipped the gun towards the direction and pressed his finger down on the trigger without much thought. A loud bang shot through the store, followed by a pained cry, Jimin ducked out of the way and fell of the shelf, he slammed into the ground and hit the side of his forearm against the ground so hard that his whole body went numb with pain. The flash of white zipping past his eyes, was shaken away by Jimin ripping himself off of the floor and dashing towards the assassin.
The man reloaded the gun with a small curse, only for Jimin to slam into him and push him to the ground. The small assassin fell on top of the buff man's chest, and immediately sat up to reel his hand back and deliver a punch against his temple. The man's fingers fell open, allowing the gun to slip out and clatter against the ground before he was curling them into a fist and swinging it at Jimin.
Jimin sucked in a breath and ripped himself backward, the fist flew past his face- barely brushing against his chin and allowing Jimin to get a whiff of the leftover cigarette smoke radiating off of his hand. Jimin latched onto the man's forearm and pushed it towards the direction his fist flew in, causing the man to groan in pain at the stretch.
Jimin was quick to lean forward and grab a hold of the gun laying next to the man before bringing it up and pushing it against the underside of his jaw, "You fucking piece of garbage." Jimin sneered into his face, he could count the small freckles dusted over the man's cheeks and even the grey hairs in his bushy eyebrows, "Why did Jessi send you?" Jimin spat, tightening his grip on the man's forearm until his nails dug into his skin, "Tell me!" Jimin screamed, causing his spit to fly past his lips and splatter against the man's face. He dug the tip of the gun further into his throat, which made the man cough out a mocking chuckle.
"Out of one hell and into another." The man mocked- each edge of his sharp words taking a slice into Jimin's skin, "Oh, poor you, you don't even have any idea what your little friend Seokjin has gotten you into." Jimin's eyes grew wide and he flinched back at the name, hope began to blossom in Jimin's chest at the thought of Seokjin being alive. A smile almost curled around his lips, only for the man's chuckle to ring at the doors of his eardrums, "Don't get your hopes up, he may be alive now, but he's dead as soon as you're delivered for Jessi like a little lamb for slaughter."
"It feels amazing to know that I will be the one to take your life. My own person little lamb, fed with love and kindness just for slaughter."
Claws dripping with the venom of Yoongi's voice crawled through Jimin's head until his mind was forced to reel back in time and fall right underneath Yoongi, where he had uttered the same words the man did now.
The grip Jimin had on the man underneath him loosened, which was enough for him to rip his hand out of Jimin's hold and latch it around his throat. Jimin gasped as the sudden grip around his throat washed away the resurfacing memories and made him crash into reality. He flung out his hands, accidentally dropping the gun to the ground in order to grab onto the man's wrist and tug away the tight grip around his neck. Before Jimin could even realise what was happening, the man's weight shifted and he used it to his advantage to flip them over.
Jimin's back slammed into the ground and head hit the ground with a loud thud, the fingers tightened around his throat until his oxygen was cut off and forced to be stuck in his lungs as a captive. Jimin clawed at the hand and raised his legs to kick the man away, yet the powerful kicks seemed to only affect Jimin's own bones. His mouth fell open, and the lack of oxygen grasped his head between its palms and began to squish his head between them.
Jimin continued to gape and suck in a breath, continued to try to punch the man off or even claw his eyes out, but the grip only tightened to the point where Jimin no longer felt the cold tiles against his bare hip, from where his shirt rode up, or the hot fingers burning against his throat. His eyes began to droop and mind began to go numb, a white curtain covered his vision, and he felt like his body was lifted and placed on a fluffy cloud.
Jimin barely even felt the man shift his weight and rasp in a condescending tone down at him, "Jessi told me you were the best assassin she had. No wonder that her gang is going under since such a weak little thing is the best she can of-"
Jimin didn't hear the rest because the words were sliced in half by a gurgle. The next thing Jimin knew, something warm and wet sprinkled across his face and the grip around his neck disappeared. Jimin's lips flew open and he gasped for air, filling his lungs with oxygen and his mouth with the warm, metallic liquid.
The weight of the other man was lifted away from Jimin while he continued to gasp for air and try to open his eyes, yet something seemed to keep them glued together. Jimin turned on his side and reached out to touch his face, only for his fingers to come in contact with something sticky covering his entire face as if a bucket of lube had been splashed into it.
Jimin felt someone crouch down next to him before something soft pressed against his eyes and wiped away the unknown liquid. When Jimin's eyes fluttered open, he could see that the tip of his nose and all around his eyes was a deep shade of red. Jimin blanched at the sight and snapped his head towards Hoseok, who was holding up his shirt and wiping away the blood on Jimin's face.
The emotion on Hoseok's expression had been swept away by the broom of blankness. Once his eyes made contact with Jimin, he allowed the bloody shirt to flatten against his stomach before he reached down and grabbed Jimin's limp hand into his. The speechless kitten was tugged up to his trembling feet and caught when he stumbled forward, Jimin glanced around and his brows raised in a pleasant surprise when he saw the bloody knife laying next to the body of the dying unknown man.
The man was clutching and digging his fingers into his slit throat as if he couldn't believe that it was cut apart. The wound was large and deep, almost as if Hoseok had nearly decapitated him with the force he had slit it. With each passing second, the man's eyes became more dazed and lifeless, and his skin turned paler, while the pool of blood underneath him continued to grow until it reached the edge of Jimin's sneakers.
"That's..."Jimin croaked out, raising his trembling hand to brush his own fingers against his sore throat. Jimin almost winced when they came in contact with the blood of the man and the scar where his own throat had been slit open in the prison, "It's not the type of choking I like." Jimin finished croaking the words before dropping his hand to his side.
"I don't think Yoongi sent them." Hoseok said in response, eyeing the dead body. He turned away after a second of letting his eyes linger, and tugged Jimin out of the store. The kitten stumbled after him and winced at the tight grip on his wrist, he raised his other hand and pressed it against his cheek, only for his fingers to get smeared by blood.
Jimin dropped his hand and wiped the blood off on his pants just as they reached the door. Jimin's eyes immediately fell onto the lifeless body of Minjun, who's shirt was soaked in blood and split apart in the area above her heart. Jimin's brows raised and lips pursued, he eyed the blank gaze of the girl before clicking his tongue.
Shame, Jimin thought dismissively, offering the dead body of the cashier an indifferent shrug before following Hoseok outside of the store. Jimin inhaled a lungful of the fresh air to replace the musky store air flooding his lungs. He followed Hoseok to the only car in the parking lot and immediately took a noticed of the black woman's lack of presence.
"Where..."
Hoseok, already sensing what Jimin would ask, decided to provide him with the answer before he could get his question out, "She got into her car and left as soon as she saw us come out of the store." Hoseok's voice lowered with a disappointed head shake, "Didn't even look back as she took off and left her partner."
Jimin listened attentively and responded with a thoughtful hum, his eyes met Taehyung's, who was slumped into the passenger seat with the belt-buckle already wrapped around his chest and legs pulled up on the seat. Taehyung chewed on his lip and tugged on his sleeves, not averting his eyes even when Jimin pivoted away to address Hoseok.
"It wasn't Yoongi." Jimin informed Hoseok, leaning against the side of the car with his hip and crossing his arms over his chest as he gazed out at the forest on the other side of the deserted road. He could feel Hoseok staring at him and eyeing the blood slowly drying on his face. Hoseok didn't say anything and, instead, he pulled open the trunk of the car, "It was Jessi, our gang leader." Jimin grumbled in distaste, not bothering to hide the anger bubbling under his words.
Hoseok stuttered out a small, "Oh." yet Jimin could feel the traces of confusion trailing after the sound. Jimin chose not to say anything and turned to look at what Hoseok was doing. He watched the latter lean into the trunk and pull out a large black case.
With his interest piqued, Jimin pushed off of the car and walked towards the box that was slammed into the ground. Hoseok straightened out and glared down at it, "I'll open it." He mumbled after a few seconds of just blinking down at it.
He bent down to unclip the case and crack it open. Jimin hovered behind Hoseok and peered around him to catch a glimpse of what was inside the case. And as it opened and revealed a mini collection of matte weapons, that varied from guns to throwing knives, Jimin found himself pushing Hoseok out of the way to get a better look at the weapons.
"Oh, my!" Jimin beamed, reaching out to slide a bloody finger along the blade of one of the knives. He whipped his head around and grinned up at Hoseok, "You should go, I think I'll be fine from here on, but Taehyung is still sick and he needs a doctor." The smile on Jimin's face faltered for a split second before he rolled his eyes, slammed the case and clipped it shut.
Jimin's fingers curled around the metal handle and pulled it along as he stood up. Hoseok nodded hesitantly- eyes lingering on Jimin's blood coated neck, that hid the moulding bruises indicating of nearly being strangled to death, "Take care of yourself, Jimin." Hoseok bobbed his head at the small mochi and began to walk towards Taehyung's side of the car.
Jimin's grip tightened around the suitcase as the realisation that they're about to drive off and leave him alone to deal with Yoongi, began to inch out of the darkest depths of his mind and whisper cruel murmurs into his ear. Jimin began to realise how impossible it would be for him to get away from this deserted gas-station, get to Jin's wooden lodge for a new passport and spare cash to leave the country, all while Yoongi has a tracker in him and is coming for him.
And as Jimin watched Hoseok lean into the car to whisper something to Taehyung, as he watched the ex-prisoner pull out of the car and glance at him with a sympathetic grimace as he shut Taehyung's door without the puppy saying his goodbyes, as Jimin watched Hoseok start the car and began to pull away until they disappeared behind the curtain of trees, Jimin finally realised how deep in the sea of despair he was until the water began to fill his mouth and flood his lungs.