𓆩・༺ ꔫ ༻・𓆪
"It's time to wake up," I say, shaking Barbie and the rest of the women in Taehyung's old room.
Taehyung came into the room and woke me up about ten minutes ago. He asked me to wake the others since he still has to wake up the men.
I agreed and waited a couple of minutes to first get myself more awake, then let some of the women get a little more sleep, even if it was only a couple of minutes.
Now, I walk around the room, gently waking each person up with a soft voice. I remember too well how my father used to wake me at times, and when he would be loud and rude, I would have a horrible day. So, especially given our circumstances, I think it's best if they can at least wake up not in a bad mood.
I left the room after waking everyone, giving them a few minutes to become fully awake.
When I walk out of the room and into the living room, I see all of the men still snoozing despite Taehyung nudging them with his foot to wake up.
Soon enough, Taehyung gives up and walks into the kitchen with his mother.
She's cooking over the stove, and Taehyung begins grabbing plates out of the cabinets to help her.
"Vee, would you mind placing these on the table and counter? Mom's making breakfast before we leave," I agree with a small smile while grabbing the panted and starting to set the table and counter.
"She just started cooking, so the shower is yours. I would take it before anyone else wakes up," when he says that, I quickly finish placing the plates.
"I'll be quick. I don't want to use all of the hot water," I say quietly while walking into the bathroom and flipping on the light switch.
Quickly, I pull off my clothes and step into the shower where I turn on the water. The chilly water hits my skin fast, causing my hands to rush to my arms where they try frantically to warm up my cold body.
Soon enough, once the water turns warm, I fully relax into the spraying water over my head and contently let it cleanse my worries.
However, while I start to wash my body with soap, I soon realize that I shouldn't be feeling this relaxed.
They've taken Jimin and Ghost as well as many others. I shouldn't be letting myself enjoy this after knowing such things have happened. Not to mention how three crew members died during the police station raid.
I almost had forgotten that detail because Taehyung admitted it so fast while we were running yesterday. I can't believe I forgot something like that. People have died, and here I am enjoying something as little as a shower.
Within a second, my expression changes to gloom instead. My thoughts turn to everything over and over again. The guns, the people, the situation we're in, and more. Everything is awful.
I force myself to hurry with my shower, quickly washing my hair and body as fast as I can. I need to get away from my depressive thoughts and being alone where they can dominate my mind is not a good position to be in right now.
Instead, I shut off my thoughts while drying my body and hair. I don't think of anything except for the task at hand as I blow dry my hair, let the bristles of a clean brush his mother laid out run through it, and slip on my clothes. I need to focus on helping Taehyung with everyone.
And although this isn't my responsibility, it shouldn't all be put on Taehyung either. However, here we all are. He led us to his mother's doorstep to keep us safe. He's putting not only himself at risk, but his mother, too.
I exit the bathroom when I hear a commotion come from the living room. When I walk into the room, I see Taehyung on top of one of the guys while holding down the other man's wrists.
"Are you done?" Taehyung spits. I notice the messy room, the shattered glass plate on the floor, and Taehyung's arm that's dripping with blood that runs off his elbow. "I don't have time to take care of a kid having a temper tantrum," he continues, releasing the other guy's wrists while standing to his own two feet.
"I'm going to make myself clear right this very second. You don't have to stay. You can, by all means, leave and try your luck by yourself. Don't expect me to save you when you get into trouble, don't expect me to help you find a place to lay low, and most of all don't ever expect anything from me again. I'm putting so much at risk by having you here, so if you don't like the way I'm running things, you can get out. I'll see you on the news channel in a couple of hours standing next to Ghost."
Taehyung's reality check has everyone on edge and thinking seriously about our situation, but they should be. I was like them yesterday, wanting to leave the city as Barbie suggested, but now I realize how stupid that sounds.
There's no point in leaving, especially if you're going to live with other relatives that could be dragged down, too. And if someone doesn't plan on running to family for shelter, then where? None of us can start over without money and a plan.
Taehyung is trying to make this work as best as he can, and although I know he's trying so hard to act like he knows what he's doing, I can see it well enough to know he doesn't, but he's trying and that's more than anyone else in this room is doing.
I walk forward into the kitchen with all eyes on me, but I need that attention for this. I grab one of the clean plates I set out, lay some delicious-smelling food on it, and I take my spot at the table.
"If anyone is planning to join Taehyung, like me, I suggest you get something warm in your stomachs soon. We don't have all day to lollygag. We're not slackers, and now definitely isn't the time to start becoming one. Everyone saw what happened on the news yesterday, and if we're not prepared, we're going to end up right with them, and then what? We can't save anyone behind bars."
"If any of you still care about your fellow crew members, as well as your lives, you need to shut up, listen to what Taehyung's saying, and fall in line because I'm not spending the rest of my life in prison and neither are the rest of the crew. So eat up and let's move out; we need to start looking at how to contact the others."
I probably sound completely different to everyone than my usual tone, but it's what needs to be heard.
I'm not great at motivational speeches at all, but for the sake of everyone, I tried my best. Most people follow others when they can't make their own decisions, so in the meantime, if they can follow mine while figuring out what they want to do, then that's fine. I only hope that they wake up and realize this isn't something that can easily be fixed with mommy or daddy bailing them out of jail and then a court case where they're seen as innocent.
That won't ever happen. If they go to court, everyone will be in prison for years, possibly life imprisonment if they want it bad enough.
I only hope that everyone here can see that soon and start acting like they want to save themselves.
𓆩・༺ ꔫ ༻・𓆪
Instead of leaving the apartment that day, given how someone around the area was found from our crew, we stayed a week at his mother's apartment. Without having anywhere else to go, we decided one week would be enough, and then we would move on.
Every day Barbie would watch the news, listening closely if they ever mentioned Jimin, and I did the same, but I was listening for Jungkook instead.
I couldn't deny that I was worried every minute that ticked by about him. I constantly thought about if they got him, if he was shot dead, or if he ran away and I never saw him again. But I tried not to think that way.
Instead, I focused my attention on helping Taehyung with the others. It was enough to stop my worrying thoughts when worrying about others instead, so that's exactly what I did.
However, when one week had passed and as we watched more people be brought in, our chances of saving the others were slimming each time the news came on. They were hunting us down like animals, and we couldn't do a thing but sit back and watch.
The day we decided to leave was brutal, and when I say brutal, I mean absolute hell.
When we left his mother's apartment, we traveled to the ghetto side of town where thankfully there weren't as many cops, but still more than normal given how they're searching for people like us.
We had to stay still for minutes until we made a run, hoping nobody would see us and call us in. However, when night hit, we thought it would be easier because we could sleep, but it wasn't.
The first night, we almost froze to death. We didn't make it to our location and had to spend the night in one of the old buildings. All the windows were broken, there were no front doors, the ceiling was even caving in near the back of the small building, and not to mention the floor was a mess.
It was the worst place I had ever slept in my life, but given that I still have my freedom, I settle on focusing on that instead.
All night we heard wild dogs barking from a distance, gunshots even, and vehicles speeding by as if driving far away from the gates of Hell.
We partnered up with others for body heat when our teeth began chattering from the freezing wind that felt as if blowing right through us.
Of course, Barbie and I partnered up, and everyone else found somebody. However, Taehyung didn't sleep. He found an old chair, sat in it with his gun, and watched over us until dawn. Then we were on foot again.
To say Taehyung was the only person who didn't sleep would be a lie. Truth be told I probably only got about twenty minutes of sleep with the rest sleeping badly, too. It was an awful night, and we had all, without saying a word, agreed we would never do that again without a fire to keep us warm.
The morning dragged on longer. Due to us getting closer back to the inner city, thanks to our freezing detour, we were seeing much more policemen than normal. However, we were still in the ghetto, but only closer to the inner parts.
It was around this time that night was here, and given how nobody hardly slept the night before, I knew we couldn't go on another night doing the same thing, and we also couldn't turn back to Taehyung's mother's apartment either, so I gave in to doing something I have been dreading since thinking about it.
We were tired and restless from running in the cold and stopping short ever so suddenly as soon as we heard the faintest sound of anything. We were sick of thinking about danger.
We were exhausted, starved, cold, and sweaty with fear in the back of our minds. It wasn't easy to sneak out at night, but when there's a group of people to sneak out with, it only makes it easier to be caught. And we all knew it, too.
For the sake of everyone getting sleep and being warm tonight, I decided to lead everyone down my neighborhood. We were going to sleep at my house.
As I lead the way down the sidewalk, I mentioned to everyone where we were heading, and although I'm terrified of seeing my dad, I can't do another night without rest and warmth. I'm starving and stink, too, so I can't do it.
For the people who can stay out like this, I admire them because I honestly don't think I could unless given no other choice.
I'll take anything he throws at me. I'll even handle him yelling at me in front of everyone if that means we can stay for one night.
I suck in a deep breath once seeing my home, and as we ascend the porch steps, my heart becomes heavy when my fist meets the door, knocking loud enough to hopefully wake him if he's asleep.
Within seconds, I hear the faintest sounds from behind the door. When the door opens, I'm ready to be yelled at, to be slapped, to even have him call the police and turn me in with the others—a thought I didn't have until this very moment. I was ready for anything, but what I wasn't prepared for was when Dad didn't answer the door but someone else did.
My eyes must have shown my shocked expression because when he opened his mouth with a small grin, I felt my heart stop as if I was in a dream.
"It's been a while, Bee. Let's get you all inside and fed. I'm sure you're exhausted." With Jungkook's outstretched hand coming to mine, his warm fingers interlock with my own while he brings me inside. "I'll explain everything," he stops short while making room for everyone behind me to squeeze inside.
He places his hand on my cheek. "For now, you should eat and get warm. I'm so happy they didn't get you,"
When his arms come around me and he holds me close while resting his chin on the top of my head, I'm almost in shock by the action, but truth be told, I was just as glad to hear he hadn't been caught, too.
I feel his heart beating fast, his tight muscles, and his scent that hits me so suddenly. I never knew I could miss someone so much as I do him, but I do.
Ignoring everything around me, I wrap my arms around him and even if only for a moment, let myself relax in his arms.
𓆩・༺ ꔫ ༻・𓆪
Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you have/had a wonderful day, and I hope this little gift from me makes your day even better!! 💜💜💜