This is a longer one.
By the way, I totally got some inspiration from the Run and I need you MV's
Eventually, I became aware of my surroundings again.
I didn't know the houses around me.
I must have walked into a neighborhood I didn't know.
The air had gotten even colder and the night was eerie silent.
There was only the light of the street lamps as I slowed my pace.
I reached for my phone to see where I was and to my shock realized I had forgotten it in my haste to leave my room.
"Are you lost little girl?"
I whirled around so fast I almost lost my balance.
There, inside a little alley to my left were three guys.
One look at them and I knew I didn't want to start a conversation with them or ask for direction.
They were obviously drunk, bottles of hard liquor in their hand, cigarettes in their grinning mouths as they swaggered over.
I turned on my heel, ready to run away and nearly smacked into a fourth one directly behind me.
I hadn't heard or see him.
He grinned at me and I saw his clipped front tooth- someone who was clearly used to brawl a lot.
"What's a pretty girl like you doin in a neighborhood like this?", he asked, his breath reeking of alcohol.
His other three friends had almost finished crossing the street. From the looks of it, they had to be in their late twenties, all of them tattooed and wearing leather jackets.
Panic started to rise in me.
What had I been thinking, going out like this?
Nothing, as it seems.
"I don't want trouble, just let me go, I'm in a hurry," I told the man in front of me, using my 'don't fuck with me voice.'
He only laughed, spitting to his left as he took a step closer and I backed away.
I knew I stood no chance. Surprise was my only chance.
And again, it was Taehyung coming to my mind.
He had insisted I learned at least some basics of self-defense, showed me how to use even my inconsiderate weight to give me some leverage in a fight.
I pretended to take another step back and then threw my full weight forward, kicking out- right between his legs.
He let out a grunt and a cruse, holding his crotch.
I didn't wait to see what he did next as I started running.
I ran faster than I ever had, my breath coming fast and the cold air burning my lungs.
I realized my mistake a few seconds later.
I might have been faster than them and had a head start, but I didn't know where I was.
I turned left, thinking I could loose them in an alley, only to find out it was a dead end.
"You're a quick little thing, aren't you?" I heard someone shout.
I looked at the high wall in front of me hopelessly. I was strong- a result of my years of dancing, but not even I would be able to climb over there.
I turned around in time to see the one I had hit stand in the alley, his chest heaving hard.
He was a big fellow, with a massive chest and at least two heads taller than me.
The other's weren't with him.
Maybe they decided I wasn't worth going to prison for.
Not this one though.
I was trapped.
And it was my own damn fault!
I backed away until my back hit the wall.
He cornered me and I knew this time he would be more cautious as he took leisurely steps towards me like he, too, knew I stood no chance.
I screamed.
It was the only thing I could do.
He suddenly shot forward and slapped me across the face so hard my head snapped to the side, my scream turning into a surprised outcry.
I had never been hit in my life, so in the first moment, the shock of it was greater than the pain.
Then I felt the sting, my cheek burning up as I held it protectively.
"You think your friend will help you?" he spat laughing, taking a step closer. I felt his body against mine and tried to back away in disgust but there was nowhere to go.
Friend?
"He's not gonna make it passed my guys. I bet they're having a blast right now."
Okay, this dude was either drunk or just generally talking nonsense, but none of that mattered right now as he grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled.
Pain flashed through me and I let out a yelp as he brought his face close.
The smell was the worst as he said: "You truly are beautiful, little girl. I'm gonna make you-"
And suddenly he was gone, the grip on my hair disappearing and I looked up to meet Taehyung's eyes.
He was breathing hard, his eyes huge and afraid as he stared at me.
The sound coming out of me was one of utter relieve.
The only time we had been apart for that long had been when my parents made me and my siblings visit family across the country and that had been over three years ago.
"Are you okay?" he immediately asked, his face a mask of worry as he gently reached out to touch my cheek.
I let him, too surprised by his sudden appearance and too happy to see him.
It's like the last couple of days didn't happen and he was just my best friend again.
But how could he be here?
Had he been following me all this time?
"Y/N? Talk to me? Are you hurt? Please tell me!"
There was an urgency to his voice.
I shook my head, feeling safe as he brushed my hair back, looking me up and down.
"I'm all right." I answered him in a half-whisper.
I was still too baffled by the overflowing relieve of seeing him.
He looked back at me and my breath caught.
I didn't know why, but I felt more out of breath than when I had been running earlier.
The moment stretched on, neither of us looking away.
And in that moment I knew, things weren't the same.
They could never be the same again.
"You little piece of shit! I'll sent you to the fucking hospital."
It was like a switch was pulled again.
Taehyung's eyes darkened as he looked sideways to my attacker who had just managed to get back on his feet again and was breathing agitated.
He looked ready to murder Taehyung, but it wasn't him that I was looking at.
It was Taehyung and the shimmer falling over his eyes.
So much rage- it's like there was no end to it.
There was nothing I could do as the big fella jumped into action.
I think I was screaming Taehyung's name, but it died halfway on my lips as I watched him avoid the punch that would have surely knocked him out.
At the same time he whirled around, using his momentum to put more force into his own punch.
I heard the cracking of bones as the guys nose broke, maybe even more.
Blood got on Taehyung's all black attire- his hoody, his trousers, even his hair.
The other guy grunted in pain and went down, but that didn't stop Taehyung.
He grabbed his collar and raised him on his knees, then punched him again, and again.
The look on his face was pure violence, like he was so lost in it, he didn't even realize the other guy had already lost consciousness.
It ripped me out of my rigid state as I shot forward and got a hold of his swinging arm.
"STOP!" I yelled, my voice breaking. " Stop, Tae! You're killing him!"
He turned, snarling at me. "So what? He hurt you!"
I almost backed away by the violence and clear lack of reason in his voice, but managed to hold on to him him tight.
"You can't Tae! Please stop, please!"
I was crying.
Why exactly I didn't know, but it seemed to rip him out of that dark place a little.
He let go of the man's collar and he dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
Taehyung turned to me slowly, breathing hard.
I was still holding his arm.
I knew there were things we had to talk about. But not here.
"Let's get out of here, please, Tae," I begged.
I didn't care if it made me sound weak, not in front of him.
He nodded, like he was still dazed by what he had done, but he let me pull him away and out of that alley.
Looking to my left, I saw three guys on the street.
They were rolling on the floor, holding various parts of their body in pain.
At least they weren't dead.
I pulled Taehyung in the other direction, away from the scene.
We walked in silence until Taehyung took over the leading and started pulling me through the streets.
Unlike me, he seemed to know his way around here as he lead me along sets of houses and finally stopped in front of a multi-story house.
"Where are we Tae?"
It was the first thing I had said after making it out of that alley, and my voice sounded strange.
Taehyung turned to me but didn't say anything as he grabbed my wrist and let me through the door. I blinked at the sudden brightness of the main floor as we waited for the elevator.
"My mom owned an apartment here. Before she died, she made sure I would get it when I turned eighteen." He finally murmured as he pulled me inside and punched the buttons of the elevator.
I looked up at him.
In the green-ish light, I could see the blood on his face, making him look even more dangerous than the dark expression he wore, looking straight ahead.
I was too afraid to speak or comment on what he had said.
He never spoke about his family- Never.
I used to push him, but when I realized it was only hurting him, I had stopped, accepting that it was something better left unspoken.
Now I regretted it.
Did I even know this person holding my hand?
Of course you do, a voice in my head immediately answered, confusing me only more.
Wordlessly he moved to type in the passcode and pushed me inside the small apartment.
The silence spread as we just stood in the darkness. I knew he was exactly behind me, but I was too afraid to turn- too afraid what would change between us if we spoke.
Taehyung had to feel the same, as he made no move either.
But I knew I couldn't postpone this forever, so I stepped forward and pulled the light switch.