Sitting and waiting the next day was absolute hell. I found myself pacing around the living room, chewing my thumb nail. Namjoon, Taehyung, and Hoseok had looked good this morning for their part, but I was still anxious. My heart was pounding in my chest. Each minute that went by made it pound harder.
Jimin watched me pace back and forth from the couch. "Can you sit down? You're giving me anxiety."
"Damn you bastards," I growl, still chewing my thumb nail. "If you hadn't been nice to me, I wouldn't care, and I wouldn't be so nervous. I'd have just killed you guys and been done."
He laughs. "Calm down. You're even worse than Kook, and he's been boxing since this morning."
No wonder he's worried, the person he cares most for is on a dangerous mission.
I stop pacing for a moment, but my fingers keep tapping on the side of my leg. Numbers kept counting in my head, going larger and larger with each tap. It felt like a bomb was ticking in my head.
"(Y/N)."
I didn't realize I'd been totally spacing out until my eyes refocused and Jimin was standing in front of me. My hands stop tapping and the clock stops ticking.
"What?"
"There you go," he says with a nod. "Focus. There's no way Yoongi-hyung is going to partner with either of us because he wants to protect Kookie as the youngest. That means we need a plan on how we're going to take out our building."
I sit down on the couch with a sigh. "I'm sorry. I just hate worrying. I never used to have to worry. If I died, I died. There wasn't anyone to miss me or anyone to come back to. If someone else died, it wasn't my problem. Now it is my problem. This was my plan. If they die from my plan…"
He sits down and snaps in front of my face. "Don't think that way. Namjoon-hyung and Hoseok-hyung may not be as deadly as Taehyung, but they're not useless. This isn't our first stealth mission."
"Can we just wing it tomorrow? Go in guns blazing?"
"Well, that would require I learn how to shoot properly."
I stand up despite just sitting down. "Then come here. It'll give me something to do with my energy."
"But I just sat down."
I lean down. "Then get your fatass up."
He huffs before standing up. "Happy?"
I was already walking towards the shooting range. I needed to do something. It really did upset me how much I cared about these seven guys even though I'd never cared for anyone before. They gave me a stupid amount of hope in this bleak world. I could leave with people to lean on. In this horrible world, I had a small bit of light. I just couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something would blow out the light.
I shove open the door to the range and grab a pistol cartridge. I start loading the bullets smoothly and quickly, my fingers moving like second nature. Jimin came in soon after, his footsteps nearly silent. I had finished the cartridge and slid it into the gun. I hold the gun out to him the moment he was next to me.
"You know how to hold it, right?"
He takes the gun and nods. He holds it up properly, the gun cupped in his hand while the other wrapped around it. He gets into a shooting position, and I could already see the problems with his stance.
"Did you watch a lot of action movies when you were young?"
He pauses, lowering the gun. "I did, yeah. Why?"
I chuckle lightly and pull the gun back up into position. "You're tense in your shoulders. That's why you can't aim properly." I press on his shoulders, moving them down. I rubbed circles into them until I felt the tension disappeared. "Breathe. Calm down. I promise it's not that hard."
He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. His fingers shifted lightly. I smiled when I saw a more relaxed hold too. I go over to the computer and move the target a little closer. There were a couple bullet holes in it, but it was mostly unused. I noticed that the paper target with my 'F U' shot into it was hanging on the wall. I hummed in amusement. My attention then goes back to Jimin.
"Aim at the center first. I wouldn't close an eye because, while that may remove double vision, you're not going to want to get rid of any vision in an actual fight." I step behind him, seeing where he was aiming. "Use the little notch at the front of the gun. Line it up with where you want to shoot."
He adjusted a little, bringing his arms up. "Anything else to critique?"
I glance at him and notice the hairs on the nape of his neck are standing up. "No." I click the safety off and step back. "Fire when you're ready."
The shot of the gun rings in my ears in the next moment. He'd done much better than the first time I'd seen him. He hit near the center, but he was still very off. Practice was the only thing that could fix that, though.
"Here, let me try something," I offer, stepping closer again.
He was about to hand me the gun when I shake my head. I signal for him to lift it again. He does, and I start fixing his position a little. I change the angle of his legs, the slight tilt of his head, and I rest my hands on his. I could feel how they shook slightly under mine. I press my body to his to more accurately aim. Our bodies fit together really well. I shake my head instead of going down that route.
"Breathe slowly. Get as calm as you can."
His lips parted slightly as he started breathing slow, the pace of a killing calm. It was good. I put my fingertips to his wrists.
"Relax these but keep them firm. Don't grip the gun too hard." I then put my finger over his on the trigger. There was barely enough space without firing, but it fit. "Alright, fire on the count of three. One… two… three."
The gun kicked back the moment the bullet fired, and he hit the center of the target. We disengaged our bodies to admire the perfect circle. The soft smile on his face told me that was the best shot he'd ever done. He looks down at the gun in his hands, then his eyes slide up to me.
"I've never been able to hit exactly where I aimed."
"Well, you just did it," I hum. "Though, while you'll definitely need to keep practicing, I have something better in mind for tomorrow."
I go over to the gun rack, scanning my eyes over it. I bite my lip as I search. There were a lot of rifles used for distance, no doubt Taehyung's. They wouldn't work for Jimin. He wouldn't be lying down and shooting from afar. There were a lot of pistols and revolvers too. They wouldn't work until Jimin practiced more. There were even some semi automatics, but they're still not what I was looking for.
Jimin comes over. "What are you looking for?"
I huff before my eyes finally land on one. "This."
He gives me a confused look. I feel a little proud to finally not be the person confused. Sure, I didn't know all guns by name, but I knew this one. It was one of my favorites just to shoot.
I hold it out. "A twelve gauge shotgun. It'll work perfectly for you tomorrow."
He takes the heavy gun in his hands. "It has some weight to it." He seems to approve. "What's so good about it?"
I bend down as I search for where ammo certainly had to be. "You don't need strong aim to shoot it well." I grunt as I stand back up with two boxes of ammo. I tilt my head to signal going back to the table. I set the boxes on the table before taking the gun back from him. I slide two cartridges in. "You will need to practice that. I can do it in less than five seconds, but I've practiced this a lot. For tomorrow, you need to be fast. That is one drawback to these, but it's the perfect gun for you." I flick the gun to close it. I position it to my shoulder, pressing it to the developed muscle there. I made sure it was nice and tight. "See how I'm holding this? You need it tight to your shoulder so you won't hurt yourself. It wouldn't work well if you have a dislocated shoulder."
He nods and offers his hand to take the gun. I let it go and pass it over. He pulls it to his shoulder just as I did, allowing me to see just how much better he'd already gotten. He wasn't tense anymore. He was strong in the right places rather than rigid. He looked really good.
"And? Do I aim the same way?"
I nod and tap the tip of the gun. "This part. Though it doesn't really matter. Just point it in the general direction of the target."
"It doesn't matter?"
A smile tugs at my lips. A part of me didn't want to tell him the kickback was heavy just so I could watch him stumble. The other part knew that might get me 'accidentally' shot tomorrow.
"You'll see what I mean. Be careful, though. The kickback is strong."
He nods before settling back to aim. I saw his eyes narrow just as they always did when he focused. It sent a shiver from the top of my head to the ends of my toes. I wasn't sure I'd ever get over that look on his face. Whatever demon possessed him when he got serious needed to tone down the heat because it was making me hot. I didn't need distracting thoughts like that while being partners for work. I might miss a shot.
I didn't realize I was so far into my thoughts until he shot. My breath hitched and I jumped, bumping into him. It totally threw him off balance, and he stumbled to the side. The shotgun dropped to his side as he wrapped an arm around me to stabilize.
"Maybe I shouldn't use this if it startles you so much." Though, after he looks at the target, he changes his mind. "Or maybe I should use it anyway."
The target was absolutely torn through. It couldn't even be seen where old bullets had been because of the explosive power of the pellets. The entirety of the paper target was littered with holes. Even the back wall had a nice new decoration of tiny little holes. I could tell the gun wasn't used often, but it was definitely as useful as I thought it would be.
"No, use it." I step away, clearing my throat. My shoulder was warm where it had been pressing against him. "I'm not usually startled like that. I was… thinking of what I should use. I want something with a bigger cartridge but not heavy. Just got too deep into analyzing."
He nods before staring at the gun. "Why didn't Taehyung let me use this before?"
I look at the wall again. "Considering his background, I don't think he used shotguns a lot. Mainly pistols and rifles."
He carefully sets the gun down since there wasn't a safety switch. "So?"
"So he didn't know how to shoot it." I look at the two boxes of ammo. "Though he definitely was planning to learn."
"He had been for a while."
Both Jimin and I look up when Jungkook's voice appeared from nowhere. He was leaning on the doorway, sweat clinging to his hair. His eyes were almost covered by the brown locks, though they weren't quite yet. He was in a tank top that was soaked through with sweat. His skin glistened from exertion.
He pushes off the doorway and steps closer. He grabs the shotgun and discharges the second shot. The force ripped the target from its holder. Then he sets the gun down again. He'd done it so smoothly that I almost fell backwards.
"I'm just stubborn and didn't want to teach him yet." He smiles lightly. "He's been good with guns since I met him. I wanted to have something on him."
I could feel the question tugging at my lips, but I didn't ask it. Jungkook looks at me, notices the look on my face, and he shakes his head.
"Don't worry. You can ask."
I glance at Jimin, who nods. "How did you and Taehyung join?"
Jungkook gestures to follow him, so I do. Jimin tags along, though his eyes keep slipping back to the shotgun. I smiled at that. He seemed to like it as much as I did.
We stop in the living room, where Jungkook and I sit down. Jimin grabs water from the fridge and hands it to Jungkook before sitting down himself.
Jungkook drinks some of the water before leaning back in his seat. "I was a young kid when we met. The young heir to the Jeon family of Busan. I had sparkles in my eyes and curiosity making my hands shake, as Tae describes it."
Tae. He calls him Tae when he's comfortable. That's so cute.
"He's a few years older than I am, but he was only about twelve when he was brought before me. I still remember my father telling me I had a new bodyguard. I don't know where they picked him up, all I knew is I was immediately enamored. He looked so strong yet vulnerable at the same time that I wanted to make him my friend." He chuckles lightly to himself. "I would follow him around, even if he was always supposed to be at my side. The only time I wasn't allowed to be with him was when he was getting training. I never knew what they did, all I ever saw was the bloody aftermath on Tae's face. I'd help him clean up as much as I could because I didn't like the pained smile. I liked his natural smile, that boxy one he still has. It always made me happy.
"Eventually, I wanted to protect him. It physically hurt me to see him bloody and beaten. I didn't know the type of training he got, and I couldn't say anything against it. It was the mafia, after all. Torture training and the such."
My scars start itching. I gulp and try to ignore them.
"I would occasionally watch him do his gun practice, but he never let me touch a gun. He maintained that he was to protect me and that I wouldn't need to. Still, with that determination in his eyes, I wanted to protect him. At around fourteen, I went to my father and told him to have someone train me without Tae's knowledge. He did it without blinking. So, I too would get bloody for the sake of being better, endure countless blisters and calluses to be a better shot, get millions of cuts to wield knives. Everything clicked, and before I knew it, I stopped getting bloody.
"Tae and I would… get closer." He glanced at Jimin. The older male didn't say anything. "He wasn't allowed to leave my side once his training was complete, so we went into countless battles together. He'd protect me with his life, and I always made sure I never cost him it. He was disappointed for a while that I'd gotten trained behind his back, but I convinced him out of it. My desire to protect him was just as strong as his to protect me. We'd grown up together, after all. I'd seen him change from a shining young boy to my glorious protector. No one knew when it happened, but our bond was unbreakable.
"My father moved to Seoul in hopes to grow larger. Tae came with us. That only strengthened our bond." His hands tighten into fists. "So when I learned I was to kill him, I panicked. My last test as heir was to kill the person closest to me so I wouldn't be affected by loss. When Tae was forced to kneel in front of me whilst I held a loaded gun, something in my chest broke. I took one look at him and shot my father. I'd barely felt the blood splatter on my cheek before I'd taken Tae and ran. The shock of me killing my father broke the system and allowed us just enough time to escape." His eyes closed and tension fell from his shoulders. "With a stroke of luck, we ran into Yoongi-hyung's restaurant. He hid us in here until Namjoon-hyung got back. We never left."
It all made sense. Why Taehyung and Jungkook were so close. Why they were in the shooting range so much. It especially clicked as to why Taehyung left Jungkook's room that other day. They weren't just inseparable. They were lovers. That's why they were nervous to tell the others. One look to Jimin's face, though, and I knew he didn't care. With what I knew of everyone else, they wouldn't care. They loved their little brothers too much.
I smiled. The wait for the three men became bearable. My heart no longer pounded. It felt like the weight had lifted after the shooting and the backstory. I wasn't the one with the most to lose. I didn't know past beyond basic care for people. Jungkook was terrified because his love was in danger. I could only imagine how much Taehyung will be on edge when Jungkook leaves tomorrow.
"Don't worry, Jungkook," I say with confidence. "They'll be back soon."