YOUMIN
He drags me into the building, after saying something quick to the other two instructors.
I'm terrified out of my mind. I can't even think a single thing for the entire time there.
What am I going to do? What am I going to say?
My head's blank.
Once we're alone, he turns to me with burning eyes.
"You're a girl."
I pale. I immediately grab for his hand when he turns away, holding onto him for dear life.
"P-Please."
I don't know what to do.
"You know I can do this, instructor." I beg, not letting go of his sleeve. "I'll do anything. Really. I just— you know I'd do anything."
His voice is bitter.
"Is your name even Jimin?"
"N-No." I stutter, and my own name sounds weird to me when I speak it.
"It's Youmin. Jimin's my brother."
And my heart drops when I see his expression. He looks betrayed— he looks lied to.
I did lie.
"I'm sorry."
"Why?"
"B-Because I lied to you." I gasp, my heart racing so fast I can barely even talk right. "I—"
"That's not what I'm asking. Why would you take your brother's place."
His features are so hard.
It's like he doesn't know me.
"H-He has asthma." I whisper, trying my best not to cry. "A bad one. I couldn't just let him come here."
His face softens the tiniest bit.
And I start to get hopeful.
Maybe he'd let me stay. Maybe he won't tell the others— maybe he'd keep teaching me how to be a sniper.
And maybe, just maybe, he'd—
"You're dismissed from training, Youmin."
My heart shatters.
________________________
I need to tell Jungkook and Jin.
I'm fighting back sobs when I see their confused expressions. I was going to miss them so much— and they didn't even know about me.
But I couldn't lie to them anymore.
"Hyung?"
Jungkook tilts his head at me. His voice is worried, and I nearly break down again when Jin taps my head.
"What's wrong, Jimin? Do we need to get some guys or what?"
"I'm not Jimin."
Jin bursts into squeaky laughter. "Yeah. You're not Jimin, and I'm not Seokjin. And that bunny-looking coconut isn't Jungkook."
"Hey!"
"No." I whisper.
Jin finally seems to notice something's
off with me. He hushes Jungkook, looking concerned at my red eyes.
"You're not Jimin? What do you mean?"
"I'm a girl."
They both freeze. Jungkook stops first, his hand pausing right from smacking into Jin's head.
"What?"
"Y-You're not hyung? You're Noona?" Jungkook breathes, his cheeks filling with air. "Oh my gosh, I have a Noona. Not a hyung, a Noona."
And I'm leaving.
I'm about to break that news as well when the door suddenly crashes open, showing Instructor V.
"I told you to pack." He says, his eyes sweeping across the room. "Why the hell is it taking so damn long?"
"We need to move to UDT base."
Jin nearly shrieks into my ear.
"UDT base?! You got promoted! What the heck, Jim— I mean, someone! You're leaving us?"
"Youmin. Let's go."
"Youmin?!"
I nod guiltily when Jungkook yells after Jin.
"My name's Youmin. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."
He falters.
"Hyu— I mean, Noona— it's all good." Jungkook says, but he still looks stunned as he pats my shoulder. "Be safe at the base, okay? I'll try to come as soon as possible."
"Me, too."
Jin gives me his classic wink.
"Who knows? I might get promoted because of my looks."
_________________________
"I'm not your instructor anymore."
I turn back from the car window, blinking at what he'd just said.
"What?"
"Listen." He says, eyes fixed forward on the road. "You'll work as a pre-sniper on my team. That means I won't have as much time to instruct you."
I pale.
I'd thought that he'd stay and teach me. I was still so bad in so many categories.
"Your...team?"
"Yes."
He gives me a side glance.
"But I'll primarily work with you."
My face brightens in relief. I really didn't want to meet new people— because that was so pressuring.
I was just so new to this.
"What should I call you then?"
"Taehyung."
My mouth drops open a little bit, and I blush slightly as I just nod. Then I turn back to the window, testing the name on my tongue.
I wince.
It would feel so weird to call him by name.
Then his phone rings.
I think of it as nothing when he answers it at first, just thinking it's his colleague or something. But then he suddenly presses the pedal on the car, and I look at him in shock.
"Youmin. Get off." He says stiffly when we enter base grounds. "Now."
"What?"
He's getting his gun.
"This is the back of the building." He says, cocking the weapon. "There's been an attack on the front side."
He frowns.
"Just stay safe until I come and get you."
And then he leaves, just like that.
Five quiet minutes pass.
I can hear faint gunshots on the other end, and I chew on my lip nervously with my back against the concrete wall.
Did this happen a lot?
My grip tightens on my small pistol, and I look down at my feet with my pounding heart.
Can I get used to this?
Then I hear rapid engine.
My head snaps up, and my pounding heart turns full on racing when I see a car speeding down my direction.
Car?
I put up my gun, my voice high.
"Stop or I'll shoot!"
And it's a miracle when the car really starts slowing. It comes to a stop about fifty feet away from me, and my voice rattles inside my throat.
Maybe it's not an enemy.
"G-Get out." I whisper, trying to keep myself calm. "Get out of the car."
No one gets out.
I'm starting to panic now, and I keep my pistol trained on the car with my free hand searching quickly for my phone.
Then someone gets out.
It's a man, and I almost drop my phone with shaking hands.
What— What do I do?
"Put your hands up!" I call, remembering what police usually did. "Or I'll really shoot. Seriously."
He smirks.
I can see it all the way from here.
"Both of them." I stutter when he just raises one of his hand. "Raise both."
He ignores me. I aim my gun at him, but he doesn't even seem fazed even though I could shoot him any single second.
"You're a new one." He says, smile growing.
"And a girl. Intriguing."
I swallow. I have no idea who he is— but he just doesn't seem right. Like he doesn't belong here.
"Who are you."
He tilts his head, ignoring me again.
"What's your name, girl? What specialty are you in here for?"
I hiss.
"Shut up. I asked who you were."
He laughs. And it's such a chilling laugh that it makes me shudder a bit.
"You don't know who I am? That's interesting."
"Answer the question!"
His face turns hard at my yell. My back is pressing so harsh against the wall that it feels like I'm making a hole into it.
He leans against the car.
"Don't be so loud."
Now I realize he has an accent. It's foreign, and I can see that his appearance looks kind of foreign too.
I breathe.
"You're not Korean."
"Yes, I'm not." He laughs, and I frown when he says something I don't understand. "Well, not full Korean."
I'm not chatting to this guy.
"I don't care." I growl, licking my lips. "You better put both your hands where I can see them—"
And then he starts coming.
My panic level breaks through a hundred when he gets back in the car, revving the engine.
I shoot.
But the bullets glance off the window, and I start shooting harder— completely terrified now.
The car isn't stopping.
Then someone crashes into me, the same moment the car crashes into the spot I was standing.
My gun clatters to the ground.
Someone's arm is wrapped tight around my shoulders, but I'm shaking so much I can't even look up to see.
He just— He just...
"Oh, now I see."
My head snaps up. Taehyung's holding me, eyes cold with his gun trained perfectly on the man.
"You're a sniper, aren't you." He laughs, a gun in his hands. "You're on his team— of course. I should've known."
I try to reach for my gun, but Taehyung's fingers tighten against my waist.
Stop.
I let my hand fall back.
"Well." The man says, that chilling laughter back in his voice again. He's looking straight at me.
"I didn't know you were so important."
Important?
He just makes another smile. And then he lowers himself back inside the bulletproof car, his gun never leaving Taehyung.
Their guns never leave each other, until he drives away.