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"I am from another world."
First, there was silence.
Then, Seokjin's laughter.
The man released a short, scrubbing-like laugh before suddenly facing her with a straight face.
"And I'm the gorgeous man created that world."
"I'm serious." Clarity frowned.
"So am I," he said, his arm folded in front of his chest. "Listen, if you're looking for a salary raise, just tell me. No need to go around the point with such an pretext."
"Suppose what you're saying is true," Namjoon cut in. "Where is the evidence?"
"Huh?"
"You can't just make a statement like such and have no way to back up your claim, am I wrong?"
Clarity bit her lips, realizing that the man had a point.
What was she supposed to say?
Kim Seokjin is the main character of this book and Yinn is the female protagonist, so he was supposed to pay extra attention to her and eventually fall in love with her!
If Clarity told them that, what awaited her would be mental care.
She could speak her knowledge about the story, but considering the inconsistency of the plot in its current progression, there was no way of knowing for sure if the future events would occur. She could also name each of the member's weight, height, blood type, favourite colour, favourite food, and so on, but that would make her seem more like a stalker rather than someone from another world.
In other words, she was in a predicament.
As Clarity was deep in thought, the door to Seokjin's office creaked open.
Poking his head into the room, Taehyung peered forward from the door, his dark curls dangling before his forehead from the leaning movement.
"Oh, it's Taehyung," Seokjin gestured a wave. "What brings you here?"
At his question, the former swiftly snuck a glance at the girl before replying with a light shrug. "I was passing by."
"Well, you've come at the right time. Namjoon and I were just about to start the meeting about the plan." Jin paused for a moment before his eyes landed on the short-haired girl by the door. "Miss Secretary, you may leave now. You're still injured, so feel free to rest for a few days. No need to come to work."
"Thank you for your concern, but I am alright. I wish to be back starting from tomorrow," Clarity said in a monotone voice with a bow.
If it was possible, she would have preferred a permanent break, but that wasn't likely to happen given the current situation. In that case, it would be better to do everything to seem like a good secretary to gain favourability and ensure survival.
After all, that is her top priority.
"You now..." Jin raised an eyebrow at her adamant response.
Clarity could see his amused look, but decided to ignore it as she headed towards the exit. Before she closed the door behind her, she happened to make eye contact with Taehyung, who was staring back at her with an explainable gaze. Clarity felt chills ascending behind her back as her mind flashed to her death in the original plot.
"Please ignore my nonsense from earlier," she spoke to Jin with a calm smile, subconsciously avoiding Taehyung's eyes. "And I thank you in advance for the salary raise."
She had to survive no matter what.
—(・_・ヾ)—
The moonless night descended upon the Bangtan mansion in silence.
Clarity ensured that her footsteps were unheard as she crept down the spiralling stairs. It was almost three in the morning, and she was woken up by her rumbling stomach. These days, it was getting incredibly hard to even have a meal in peace without some unforeseen events occurring.
Sighing internally, Clarity made her way to the kitchen. She was about to open the fridge doors when the lights suddenly flickered on. The abrupt illumination of the room scared the wits out of the poor girl as she yanked the fridge door with excessive strength. Losing her balance at the unexpected recoil, Clarity ended up stepping back in a wall-like figure.
"You seem to always be on the verge of falling."
Kim Taehyung spoke to her with a frown, his low voice echoing around the empty kitchen.
"W-what are you doing here?" Taken back by the unexpected presence, Clarity stammered in surprise. She couldn't hide her emerging frown as she stepped back from the black-haired man.
Clarity found this situation ridiculous, as it was right after she had mentioned about never being able to eat in peace.
"I was completing a request from Jin." Letting out a soft sigh, Taehyung took out a handkerchief and tossed it in the sink.
Clarity flinched at the red substance that seeped out as it stained itself with the remaining water from the counter. She subconsciously gulped as Taehyung's ocean-like pupils fixed onto hers.
"What are you doing here?"
"... I was hungry," she said.
But not anymore.
Clarity cleared her throat nervously, sneaking a glance at the handkerchief in the sink before affirming that it was, indeed, covered in blood.
Taehyung's role in the original story was never specified to the reader, but it was deductible that it was one full of violence. With CEO Seokjin, Hacker Yoongi, Strategist Namjoon, Networker Hoseok, Celebrity Jimin, and Informant Jungkook, someone had to be the active executor of the plans.
She glanced at the raven-haired man, who stood with a stern yet collected demeanour. He was someone who had grew up in darkness, who had grown accustomed to the cruel and hostile side of the world where survival was the least consistent factor in life.
Clarity did not want anything to do with that world.
Taehyung was unaware of her thoughts as he pulled up another package, dropping it on the kitchen counter. The noise from the large package as it contacted the surface reverberated throughout the space, and Clarity was snapped out of her thoughts.
"Shhhh! You're going to wake the other members up." She hushed him with an urgent expression. She then took notice of the package, bundled carefully with tape and other coverings. "What's this?"
"Items from the Underground Auction," Taehyung answered. He flipped open a combat knife and slid the sharp side smoothly across the box to cut open the tape. "You bought them, no?"
Ah. She remembered now.
Staring at the items in front of her, all of which were veiled preciously by a several layers of packaging, Clarity recalled her materialistic spendings at the Auction. She had spent more than half of the funding that Jin gave her in his black card in order to spite Senyu. Seokjin's nonchalant reaction flashed in her mind as she recalled how the eldest casually told her to keep the items, as he had no use for them.
Even though it was not her money, she wanted to slap herself for being so caught up by the adrenaline of blowing cash.
What a waste!
Why did she have to go and spend all those money when she could have saved some for her life after surmounting her death flags? Clarity considered storing them away for a collective resale once she survived the rest of the plot line in order to live an affluent life.
Tap.
Eyeing all the valuables before her, she regretfully pushed aside her inner turmoil.
Tap. Tap.
Taehyung subconsciously tapped the tip of the knife to the marbled counter as he observed the girl before her, curious of what went on in her head. Every time he messed with the knife, it would make a clear yet piercing sound as it scratched against the table surface.
On the other hand, this noise was delivered into Clarity's ears as an unspoken threat. Goosebumps crawled up her back.
Why does he have such a scary look on his face?
She stared wearily at her death flag, who seemed to be observing her with an intrigued expression. Clarity cleared her throat a couple of times to hide her nervousness.
It was then when a certain item caught her eye.
"Oh!"
Pleasantly surprised, she swiftly picked up one of the first items she had obtained at the auction. Taehyung blinked in puzzlement as he watched her unroll the covering layer by layer until the item was exposed in its original form.
It was the Leica Camera—the camera with a price that was enough to buy a house in Seoul.
She stared at the treasure-like item in her hands for a moment before pushing it towards the man who stood across from her. Taehyung, who usually had an intimidating and composed gaze, noticeably tensed as her actions. He looked at the camera, then at the person who offered the camera.
"This is for me?" Although still stoic, his voice softened like a feathery pillow.
"It wasn't with my money, but I got it because it reminded me of you." Clarity smiled awkwardly. "You seemed like the type of person to be into taking pictures."
She was talking about Kim Taehyung from BTS, but there was no reason for her to say that.
Given the nature of the fanfiction setup, this Kim Taehyung likely did not have time to do trivial things like photography. However, Clarity couldn't help but feel a sense of bitterness as she compared the lifestyles of the similar yet drastically Kim Taehyungs in the two worlds. Although he was her walking death-flag in this story, she wanted Kim Taehyung's life to include aspects beyond darkness and violence.
Of course, she also hoped that if there ever came a day where he was going to kill her, this gift would serve as a moment of hesitation for his decision.
...Does he have something against cameras?
The man's silence was driving her crazy as Clarity apprehension increased watching him soundlessly scrutinize the camera. Finally, he took it from her, and the latter let out a small sigh of relief. The camera, which Clarity had to support with both hands, seemed petite as it rested on top of Taehyung's palm.
"...Thank you." These two words seemed like a foreign language coming out of the raven-haired man's lips.
"You can throw it away if you don't like it, but I think it suits you." She smiled, relieved that her actions did not anger him.
From the corner of her eye, Clarity noticed once again the blood handkerchief and shuddered. Ignoring Taehyung, who was be weighing the camera in his slender hands, she did not want to remain in the same space as the horrifying crime evidence and turned around.
"I'm gonna head upstairs to get some shut eye before work. Make sure you close the lights when you head up."
Frowning, the short-haired girl rubbed her empty stomach as she realized her trip to the kitchen had ended up futile.
Clarity dragged her feet up the stairs, unaware of the lingering gaze of a certain raven-haired man, who was feeling quite different after receiving his first gift from someone other than his members.
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clarity: i really hope he doesnt kill me,,, pls spare my life mr walking death flag
tae (oblivious): my first gift...
it's winter break! which means more updates!!!! its been a month but trust me i did not give up on this book haha...
look forward to the next chapter :]
lori ✿