I peer upwards, hoping to see the guy I thought it could be.
However, when my gaze lands on a big spider tattoo he had on the back of his hand and his physique completely different from any of the bangtan boys, I realise I'm in danger.
"Leave me!" I command at once but he doesn't budge a bit and instead tightens his grip on my figure.
This man with his face completely covered was surely not up to anything good.
So I need to force him to leave me now huh?
Grabbing onto the bent portion of the branch which he was clinging onto, I swing back with all the force I owned and kick him right on his balls, sending him flying down the slope.
A blood curling scream comes out of his mouth as he tries to clutch on my leg for support but that only ends up with me giving him another kick on his face.
There's a thin river flowing below, he will most likely survive.
Maybe just get a few cuts here and there but the question is, who actually is he?
His voice sounded groggy and old but the way he was built reminded me of my bodyguards, never mind I should focus on leaving now.
I won't be able to escape once jungkook comes after me too, he is literally a magnet.
Sighing as the bone of my leg vibrates from the sudden amount of pressure I applied on it, I hold onto the other branch that was slightly above and pull myself upwards.
It isn't safe to get on tall heights when there's a thunderstorm going on but I'll rather die from the hands of Mother Nature than from the hands of Kim Taehyung.
"Where is she? I swear I saw her run this way"
Someone whispers from the ground below, making me hold my breath back.
My arms were aching from carrying the entire weight of my body and not to mention the fresh cuts I just got.
Jeez, just leave me alone now.
Catching my lower lip between my upper set of teeth, I hesitantly take a glimpse of the men below.
Who else could it be except taehyung and Jin?
Please don't look up, please please please.
"She didn't fall into the river did she? Let's go to the other direction and check once" Jin suggests.
God bless this man.
"Namjoon hyung, we are changing routes now. Bring your subunit to the river area and search for her here. I'm pretty sure I saw her run this way" taehyung speaks on his phone.
Subunits?
Slowly sliding down from the branch to rest my feet on either side of the tree's bark, I wrap my arms around the broad piece of wood and wait for the men to go, their footsteps walking away from me.
I remember jimin said they work in groups of two and if tae and Jin are in one unit, hobi isn't a part of work and jimin is kidnapped...
Jungkook and Namjoon? Weren't they rivals?
Scrunching my face at the divisions that didn't sit right with me, I stretch my body to get to the other tree nearby that led to a big road in front.
I think this is the road which leads to the main town, I'll get a bus and leave once I reach there.
Those days spent in grandpa's house where I climbed trees through whole days of summer are proving to be helpful to me now.
Focusing on each huff of breath as I glide through the branches one after the other, I smoothly fall down on a stack of leaves, a dull thud following my safe landing and hide behind another one of those broad barks.
I'm too smart to think my exit will be easy.
Curling myself up into a ball while rain continues to wetten my shirt even more, I peek from a corner of my hiding spot to see a line of men standing around the road's lampshade.
Shit, the forest is actually sealed.
I swallow thickly and inhale through my mouth so as to not create any sounds.
The way I'm losing my blood, I'll pass out if I don't get out of here quickly.
With widened eyes scanning through the tall men who stood rigid on their particular spots, I notice that they were armed too.
Each one of them had a rifle in their hand.
Are they here to kill me or to hunt wild animals?
The area will get ten times tighter once both the units get here, I have to move somehow.
"Boss Jeon says the girl will be here in no time, retain your position boys" a voice filled with malice shouts and for a second I feel like they are a marching band or something.
'Boss jeon'...that fucker is always going to make life ten times harder for me.
A discreet sound of leather shoes click against the road, making me wonder whether jungkook really hired his men from a marching band.
I press an elbow on the biggest leaf visible in my sight and prop myself up, looking around the road once more.
Yes! Maybe god is really on my side tonight.
My eyes drop to the dark alley which was underneath the main tarmac , it looked rough and not used enough but I think I can run on it for a few hours atleast, until my flip flops decide to give up on me.
I unlatch myself from the slab of alive wood, my movements very very steady among the busy and chaotic environment. Then, I proceed to blink back my tears.
The way my wounds were burning from the rainwater and mud, be it any other day I wouldn't be able to take another step further.
However, I at the same time was not taking steps anymore. What I was doing was crawl through the puddles of earth.
I'll shower five times once I get home.
I mean...if I manage to get home.
My forearms tighten as I continue to move forward, muscles getting sore with every little thing I did.
There's an advantage to being short you know, tall people only look around what they see first like the men out there.
God forbid if anyone was shorter, they would have noticed me crawling through the mud like a snake of some sort.
A big, fat snake.
Snaking my way past all the rookie men who still had their gaze fixed on the inner depths of the forest, I gulp thickly when a familiar back catches my eye from afar.
Jeon Jungkook.
He comes jetting through the woods, a dagger clasped in his fingers and blood splattered all over his face.
"Did you get her?" Is the first thing he asks to the male who stood in the frontline.
Little does he know I'm right below him.
"No, sir. All districts are closed so there's no need to worry. There's no way she can leave under our surveillance"
Okay so...who's gonna tell him?
"I hope...she didn't get hurt. The vines were so crazy in there"
I hate to accept this but jungkook's voice right now was like music to my ears, every syllable he uttered was smooth and soft unlike taehyung's.
If my life wouldn't be in the fear of getting cut short right at this moment, I would have sprung upwards and given him a hug for being caring towards me.
Even though he nearly made me shoot a cop once.
Wiping some remains of dirt away from my cheeks, I continue my journey, this time with my ass raised since I was on my knees to speed up the process.
Once I get to a distance where the men were only little dots next to the huge lampshade, I run.
And soon realise that I wasn't the only one running.
My guts were telling me that I was being followed.
I swivel my head to the back to see who it could be but the coast turns out to be empty.
I am sure I heard someone running after me...
Scratching my head in confusion, I mutter a "nevermind" and continue sprinting which not too long after is trailed by loud yells of people shouting something like
"She escaped", "she dropped the tracker", "get her fast"
What do they mean by tracker though? Did they add some chip to my body when I wasn't aware?
Weirded out by the term of a tracker, I knit my brows together, lips flattening into a thin line.
Being a hostage was certainly terrifying and full of plot twists, hope I never experience anything like this ever again.
Pushing my arms back and forth, I jet to my destination, jumping over small pot holes, dodging insects that wanted to suck my blood clean, and pumping my legs as fast as they could go. Once I make it to the lighted streets, I zoom under the shades of them as if I was soaring like an eagle on a mission.
I'm free now, I am free.
Just a little more and I'll be free forever, you made it y/n! You outsmarted jeon jungkook.
The taste of victory on the tip of my tongue felt amazing, the only thing I was waiting for now was to swallow it and let it go through my insides so my whole body could enjoy the pleasure of winning.
But that doesn't mean I can slack off now, I still have a long way to ago.
•
Thirty minutes had passed, thirty minutes of me following every street light I could find in hopes to get to where I wanted to and I eventually did.
Entering the town I had visited earlier with legs shaky and aching too painfully, I get myself a stick from the big bundle of firewood someone had laid right in the middle of the road and limp like a grandmom.
I did look like one right now, clothes all torn and hair messy, a beggar grandmom would sound better.
Thank heavens atleast the rain had stopped now, only a light drizzle of water was falling which somehow I managed to find peace in. And the air was chilly, biting my damp skin to wick away body heat before it could get replaced. Not to mention how numb the tip of my nose felt.
Letting out a cloud of breath in the ominous brittle silence with wind penetrating the fibres of my pajamas in absurd ease, my teeth chatter like a pneumatic drill because of the sudden drop of temperature.
I glance down at my shirt which had gotten completely see through and look around myself to see if there were any shops nearby.
The street lights were still on but how dare I forget what type of town this is? of course everything will be closed at this hour.
If my body was to be see through too, I'm sure I would be able to see my muscles grinding like the cogs in an old machine.
What am I even thinking ugh.
Without wasting any of my precious time, I limp in the vicinity of a bus stand right outside the fencing which separated this town from the outside world and squint my eyes to read what the cardboard kept right next to said.
"First ride - 6:30 am" I mumble.
Jesus Christ, Jungkook will already be here by then.
Should I go take a shed under someone's house tonight? People here don't look very friendly but nothing goes in trying right?
Lifting my already tired legs to approach the closest house that was present right when one set a foot in the town, a little cottage owned by a cat lover (judging from the way there was half-drenched cat food inside a food tray outside their staircase), I knock on the door three times.
One would be impolite, two would be inaudible in case they were sleeping so three had to be perfect.
Whoever will come to get the door, I hope they have a brave heart because from the way my dark hair is plastered wetly on my muddy face, clothes soaking wet and lips blue with cold, anyone will think I'm a ghost at first.
Let's not talk about the scratches left by blackberry canes streaking my cheeks, they're still itchy and painful.
Humming a soft rhythm and patiently waiting for someone to appear for my help, I rest my chin on the back of my palm and see an old lady peeking from behind her living room curtains.
She blinks, stares, repeats.
I nervously move my hand in a hello sign but she just...stares.
"Can I get some help?" I silently mouth.
And then she shuts the curtains close before switching the lights of her living room off as well.
Sporting a counterfeit smile, I hope that the awkwardness that was bathing the moment would be transient. I swallow, breathing heavily then, unable to digest what the fuck just happened.
Everyone here is so weird.
Cursing myself on the inside as my feet screech across the empty pavement, I hear commotion coming towards me and I can tell by their silhouettes that they're men.
Not any normal group of men you'd see walking their dogs during the afternoon, they sounded drunk and the least to say, completely wasted from alcohol.
Local criminals, lurking around at this hour.
Rapists, murders, thieves, those were the only type of people who were crossing my mind in this scenario.
It would be a miracle if this group turned out to be nice humans who wouldn't take advantage of an injured girl.
And miracles do not happen in today's world.
Heat from my body rapidly leaches into the night air as wind cuts through my skin and torturously smashes my marrow with constant harsh blows, like rime daggers of some sort.
This scene looks way too familiar.
hide before they see you dumbass!
My inner voice says but too late, my feet are already rooted to the ground.
Even if taehyung came in front of me right now with his eyes darkened from molten anger, I don't think I'll be able to run.
Too much of workout for my body on an empty stomach had made my brain stop working.
Fuck, get back on track y/n.
Turning to the other direction as I let the stick I was holding fall from my grip, I stretch my limbs out to walk confidently, to show them that I wasn't alone and I had someone looking over me.
However, when I hear whistles and catcalls ring in my eardrums, I stop whatever my movements were and instead bolt to a corner of the cobblestone path, a thin alley between two buildings that stood tall.
"Oh come on little girl, show us what you got eh" a guy laughs, his feet wobbly while he does his best to follow me.
"Little girl" all the others repeat, letters barely hanging from the way they slurred and malicious laughter erupting from their mouths.
The malovent smiles on their faces was making bubbles of panic rise in my chest.
I had underestimated this place, no way in hell am I going to be able to fight against around ninemen while being injured myself.
Feeling pity on myself, I take two steps back from my spot, hiding further into the shadows as if that would make the predators in front of me forget I was hiding here.
"Come on darlin' don't be scared" a long winded voice says.
Humiliated. That's the only word that was running through my head now.
I passed through jungkook, ran down a forest, pulled myself up from the clutches of death when falling from that cliff yet I cannot protect myself when it comes to men.
Am I really boss Choi's daughter? He would be so disappointed in me.
.....
I'm really sorry for Always keeping you guys waiting 😭