"When's your arrival time? Over."
"20 minutes, hyung. Base C," J-Hope answers the staticky voice in the walkie talkie.
My jaw drops. Twenty more minutes??
"Copy that. How many people?"
"Three. Hobi speaking, JK, and Y/n. Are you guys ready for our arrival? Over."
"We will be. Come through the back entrance, you're probably being tracked and the back entrance is less... peculiar."
J-Hope glances over at Jungkook. "Got that JK?"
Once Jungkook nods, J-Hope turns back to the walkie talkie. "Roger that, hyung." He holds the walkie talkie for a moment longer before setting it down.
"Ya! I have to stay on your lap for 20 more minutes?!" I exclaim.
"Hey, you're not the only one complaining," J-Hope says. "I'm worried that I might get motion sickness... "
I groan and look up at the roof of the truck. Why is my life like this?
Jungkook sighs. "These 20 minutes will pass faster than you think, Y/n. When we get closer, we should have a plan of action to get to base safely."
"So what's going to happen now?" I ask, turning to Jungkook.
I see his expression falter for a moment before J-Hope playfully takes my hands in his and waves them around.
"Let's not worry about that right now, Y/n," he sings. "Jungkook and I will take care of the plan, you take it easy and rest. That was intense back there."
"I can't rest if I don't know what's going to happen," I mumble.
Jungkook and J-Hope share a look.
"I think we should tell her the truth, hyung," Jungkook finally says.
"Oh," J-Hope blinks. "Alright."
A pause.
Suddenly, Jungkook's relaxed personality and J-Hope's usual calm aura both turn into something that seems much more sinister.
It's as though I just completely killed their positive and funny sides.
This is why you can't have friends, Y/n.
"The truth?" I echo.
"Uh, well..." J-Hope stutters, treading carefully. "Let me start from the beginning, so you can get the picture. We kind of just ran out of a school, which is a very bad thing to do already..."
"And?" I encourage.
He chooses his words really slowly. "Aaand... the fact that we even continued to escape and succeeded when they tried to stop us makes it worse..."
"... so?"
"It means that people will be after us," J-Hope sighs. Then the rest of it comes out: "The principal, the guards, and whoever else they decide to include. They'll be chasing us down. We betrayed the school system, which in turn is a betrayal against the government."
"It's sort of borderline a capital offense," Jungkook murmurs.
My eyes widen. "Capital offense?"
"On the grounds of treason," Jungkook confirms.
"Why did no one ever tell me this?" I ask, suddenly feeling sick.
And yet, the reason why immediately dawns upon me - the school system doesn't want to give us any ideas. The entire topic is banned.
Even though everyone may have thought about escaping school before, the desire is left unspoken. I had no way to know about its consequences because running away from school was never spoken about.
I just had no idea it would be this bad.
J-Hope covers my hands with his. "I'm sorry we couldn't think of a better way, Y/n. I don't think you'll be able to go back to school now..."
I feel this suffocating sense of dread inside me.
"You know you guys could've left me back there with the nurses?" I say weakly. "You didn't have to do this..."
"They could kill you for 'research' for all we know. Escaping like this is almost as bad, but if we do it successfully..." J-Hope trails off, unsure of what to say.
"... then you'll at least have a chance of living a long life." Jungkook finishes.
"Exactly."
I fidget with my hands, suddenly very nervous after listening to their words.
Tension weaves its way into the air. Jungkook and J-Hope keep quiet while I struggle to wrap my brain around this whole situation.
Think, Y/n, think...
"So what are we gonna do?"
"What do you mean?" Jungkook asks.
"I can't go back to school now," I say, "so what do I do?"
He shrugs. "You'll stay with us. We'll give you your training ourselves. Then when the government people chase us down, we run. And if we can't run, we hide."
I gulp. "... and if we can't hide?"
"We fight." Jungkook grins when he sees the scared look on my face. "Relax Y/n, you're overthinking this. We'll deal with each challenge when we get to them."
"Just think about all the new things you'll learn along the way. It'll be great!" J-Hope adds cheerfully.
I shake my head sadly. It's crazy to think about all of this - I was in school just under half an hour ago and now I'm throwing away my future (if I even had one) to run away with Jungkook and J-Hope, whom I'd only met today.
To my surprise, I came to like the idea the more I thought about it.
Adventure called to me. I made two friends - friends! - who helped me escape school (and commit a capital offense in the process, but I prefer not to think about it that way).
I've just started a feat that no other student could even dream of doing.
It dawns upon me that this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The thought is strangely exhilarating.
"J-HOPE! YOU THERE??" The loud volume startles me.
J-Hope quickly picks up the walkie talkie. "Hyung, what's up?"
Yelling and panic could be heard from the other side of the line. I shift uncomfortably.
Shortly after, the staticky voice returns. "You guys are being closed in. On all sides. It looks really bad..."
Jungkook's face becomes the definition of 'uh oh'.
"... and I don't think you guys will make it in time."
~
A/N: 😁